Behind the Scenes: Crater Lake National Park

HOWDY PARK PEOPLE! Our conversation with Craig Ackerman, Crater Lake National Park Superintendent, is LIVE. Craig has been superintendent of Crater Lake for over 15 years and to this day is still enamored with the park’s beauty and inspirational powers. I’ll talk about it more below, but I am actually going to Crater Lake in a week and a half for an event that Craig told me about during the interview. I’M SO EXCITED! Listen NOW on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your podcasts 🪩🎉

Check out the video version of the episode on YouTube and Spotify. Let me know what you all think!

Keep reading to hear my favorite moment from the interview, a new thing I learned and an interesting fact about Crater Lake National Park all from my interview with Crater Lake Superintendent, Craig Ackerman! Craig also had some awesome quotes which I sprinkled throughout the newsletter!

Favorite Moment from Interview with Craig — Listen here 

• Craziest Experience as Crater Lake Superintendent: Wild things happen in national parks, and Craig shared one such incident that, thankfully, had a happy ending. A couple, on a road trip to move to Southwest Oregon, stopped at Crater Lake and pulled into one of the popular outlooks. They got out of their car to enjoy the view, only to be interrupted by people shouting at them. Their car had started rolling out of its parking spot, did a 180-degree U-turn, and then backed through a six-foot gap in the rock wall guard, tumbling a thousand feet down the cliff, end over end, into the lake. The couple screamed in horror because their dog, Lucky, was still in the car. Miraculously, Lucky was indeed lucky and was ejected through the sunroof as the car tumbled. The dog managed to gradually make its way back up to the rim of the caldera with only minor bruises and lacerations. While Lucky was okay, the car was not. It was eventually retrieved from 35 feet of water with a helicopter—after a battle with the owner’s insurance—as a cube of metal, crushed by the pressure of the lake.

One Thing I Learned Interviewing Craig

• The Story of William Steel: Crater Lake became a national park thanks to the relentless and persistent efforts of a single man with no prior influence or prestige: William Steel. He fought for 17 years to ensure Crater Lake's designation as a national park. His interest was sparked when he saw an image of the lake on the back of a newspaper that was used to wrap his lunch. The stories surrounding Crater Lake's discovery are reminiscent of those about Yellowstone, where people thought the explorers were hallucinating when they described its beauty. Many dismissed Crater Lake as just a nice lake in the mountains, but their perspectives changed when they saw it for themselves. People would embark on 2-3 day quests just to catch a glimpse of the lake, all thanks to William Steel's immense efforts to publicize it. Listen to the episode to get a fuller grasp on Steel’s battle to ensure Crater Lake became a national park.

Interesting Fact About Crater Lake National Park

• The Old Man of The Lake: There is a 30-foot log that floats vertically (essentially defying physics!!) around the lake. This log, known as the Old Man of the Lake, has been floating around Crater Lake for over 150 years, ever since it was first discovered, though it may have been there even longer. The Old Man drifts wherever it pleases around the lake, and those who spot it during a boat tour or from an overlook consider themselves lucky. A few years ago they tried to tie up The Old Man when a submarine went down into Crater Lake for research reasons as they didn’t want him to be a hazard of navigation. The summers are exclusively blue skies with virtually zero rain, but the minute The Old Man was tied up thunderstorms starting rolling in and the wind howled and the waves became so tall that it was not safe to operate the submarine. So, they went and untied The Old Man and let him float back out on the lake and the thunderstorm stopped. Interesting powers that be for The Old Man — I hope I’m lucky enough to see him when I’m at the park.

Maddie’s Outdoor Obsessions

This section will always highlight my favorite picks from the past week in the outdoor & adventure world

• Ride The Rim Event: A pedestrian-friendly event that closes off East Rim Drive to vehicular and motorized traffic, creating a safe space to enjoy the park on two wheels, one wheel, or by your own feet. They do it the first two Saturdays in September every year, and in my interview with Craig, I was like, "Oh, I have got to make this happen!" And, as I have alluded to a few times, I AM MAKING IT HAPPEN! I’m so excited to experience Crater Lake in person and via bike for a whopping 25 miles! Craig mentioned that it is some people’s favorite thing they have ever done, so it is fair to say my expectations are high, hah (I’ll include photos in the next newsletter).

• The High Route | The North Face: In preparation for my backpacking trip in North Cascades National Park, a friend recommended this video to me, and it is so inspiring. It’s about a woman who creates a big traverse across the North Cascades called The High Route, traveling the entire length of the North Cascades in Washington state on foot, combining five different alpine traverses, and she does it in A SINGLE WEEK (when the only other time they think it had been attempted, it took the couple a whole month). Definitely an inspiring watch.

Thanks for making it this far — you a real one — see you all for our next episode release in two weeks!!

Maddie

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