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Volume VIII No. 1 - July, 1935
Unusual Ridges Of Rock Fragments
By Carl E. Dutton, Ranger-Naturalist
After most of the snow inside the Rim has melted away, there remains an
almost continuous accumulation below The Watchman and Hillman Peak.
These snowbanks are separated from the lake by a very definite border of
rather large rock fragments. When finally the warmth of summer has
completely or partially melted these snowbanks, there exist depressions
where the snow was formerly present. In the latter season of the year,
the trough is conspicuous but might not be accorded its true origin.
The manner in which the ridge and trough are formed is revealed by
the processes which are especially active while the snowbanks are
present. Occasionally a rock fragment, from the cliffs or slopes above,
tumbles toward the lake an in doing so is carried across the snow. This
process has been repeated until the accumulation finally became so great
that it was built above the water and the ridge character was developed.
The predominance of large size fragments in the ridge is noteworthy and
is due to the high velocity attained by the falling rocks. As a result
of this inertia, the large fragments are propelled across the snow
whereas the smaller fragments are stopped by the snow.
Thus the sorting and accumulation of such loose material into these
shore ridges is principally a geological feature whose origin is
associated with the season of snow at Crater Lake.
The Crumbling Rim
By Ernest G. Moll, Ranger-Naturalist
The first boat trip around the lake in Spring has, for those of us
familiar with the lake from of old, a twofold interest. Three is the
renewed contact with scenes wistfully remembered at quiet moments
through the long winter; there is the curiosity concerning how the rim
has weathered the winter storms and the tug and thrust of ice and snow.
Observations made on the boat trip of July, the first, would
indicate that the past winter produced relatively few changes in the
features of the rim. However, at a spot precisely halfway between
Palisade Point and the Palisades, a new scar in the out-jutting lava
bore witness that a large mass of rock had split off and fallen away to
the lake. Huge freshly-broken fragments, mixed with splintery remnants
of tree trunks, lie scattered along the shore-line.
Thus goes on record another skirmish in the battle of the rim
against the forces of weather and erosion.
That which seemed strong as Time lies broken here,
A fearful discord of tempestuous stone;
And o'er that field still linger, sharp and clear,
The echoes of the wild earth-bugle blown.
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