sections of the lake. Spoons or spinners are principally used, although plugs are occasionally a part of the tackle.

The limit of a day’s catch is 12 per person, extending during the summer season. No fishing license is necessary.

Although today Crater Lake literally teems with rainbow and silverside trout, in addition to a lesser number of steelhead, German brown, and speckled trout, some 50 years ago the lake was devoid of piscatorial life of any kind.

The first fish were planted September 1, 1888, by Judge William Gladstone Steel, but with little success. A few years later a California minister succeeded in planting 200 fingerlings, but after that plantings were rare for many years. Since the park was established in 1902, fish have been systematically planted, especially during the past decade. So well has this work been done that the lake is now abundantly stocked and care is being taken not to overstock this body of water.

The trout are largely dependent for food on an abundance of small crustaceans in the lake. Research carried on in 1934-36 revealed that while 53.7 percent of the food came from crustaceans, 47.1 percent of this classification was confined to Daphnia pulex (water fleas). The figures were determined after the examination of 224 trout stomachs. The water fleas are most commonly found at a depth of 75 feet and are the most abundant of several types of food found in the lake depths.

WINTER SPORTS

The 12 months accessibility of Crater Lake National Park has made possible the enjoyment of winter sports in rare settings of wintry splendor. Steep and gradual slopes, according to speeds desired, are numerous in the park and are ideal for skiing and tobogganing, the source of many thrills for amateur winter recreationists.

Crawford photo
FISHERMEN DISPLAY THEIR AFTERNOON CATCH

Professional snow meets in the park are not encouraged, but special attention is paid to amateur sports, making it possible for entire families to enjoy a day in the snow. Snow plows keep the south and west approach roads effectively cleared for comfortable motor travel between banks from 10 to 20 feet high in midwinter. Rangers are on constant duty during the winter season to render service to visitors. Lodging and food accommodations are within 20 miles of either side of the park.

In addition to snow sports, visitors have the opportunity of viewing Crater Lake in a raiment of white, accentuating the mystic beauty of its unbelievably blue waters and its encircling, towering cliffs of multitudinous colors in close harmony with the pristine appeal of the mountain wonder.

Inspiring to behold in the greenery of summer, Crater Lake robed in the white silences of winter is a magic scene of color, vastness, and mystery never to be forgotten.

THE FORESTS

Untouched by the hand of man, except for insect and tree disease control, and carefully guarded against the ravages of fire, the forests of Crater Lake form one of the park’s principal attractions. This is true not only from a scenic standpoint and a never-failing interest for tree lovers, but also because of the vast acres of magnificent stands.

Of the considerable number of trees within the park, the majority are cone bearers. Some of these extend down the western slope well outside the boundary. The lower species meet and mingle with such broad-leaved trees as oak, maple, and madrone. Entering the lowest part of the park in the southwest corner via the deep canyon of Redblanket Creek are several trees not generally known to occur within the area. These include Brewer oak (Quercus oerstediana), western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia), golden chinquapin (Castanopsis chrysophylla), bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum), and Pacific dogwood (Cornus nuttallii).

The mountain hemlock (Tsuga mertensiana) is characteristic of the Crater Lake region, its stately trunks, drooping limbs, and feathery foliage providing woodland beauty that is never forgotten. It is common to the inner wall of the crater and seeks high altitudes on mountain peaks, where its growth is stunted and its limbs beaten down by storms. An imposing stand greets the visitor at Annie Spring, continuing on both sides of the highway to the rim, its large trunks suggestive of the hundreds of years these trees have been growing undisturbed in their mountain fastness. Here, indeed, is the forest in all of its pristine glory. It occurs in heavy stands along the road around the lake, enhancing the beauty of the Rim Drive. The great trunks crowd each other for space beneath the shade of their lofty crowns.

An outstanding tree of the park is the whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis), often short and stunted and grotesquely twisted, fringing the rim and crowning the highest crests. It illustrates best among trees the stern struggle for existence. The lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), most prolific of the park’s conifers, covers thousands of acres of dense stand and extends down the cool canyons to and beyond the park boundaries. The Shasta red fir (Abies magnifica shastensis), a stately tree with its regularly meshed branches and large bract-covered cones, is an abundant tree scattered throughout the hemlock forest.

The western white pine (Pinus monticola), while usually a middle-sized tree, furnishes the largest individual in the park, having a diameter of approximately 8 feet. More abundant along water courses and about wet meadows, can be seen the slender spires of the alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa). In some places this tree continues over the rim to the inner wall of the crater. Engelmann spruce (Picea engelmannii) is usually confined to the bottoms of deep canyons. Other trees include the white fir (Abies concolor), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), and sugar pine (Pinus lambertiana), all companions of the ponderosa pine.

Another species in the park is the incense cedar (Libocedrus decurrens). While this tree is not common, it is not hard to find, one prominant group being on the motorway 3 miles west of Hillman Peak. Several of the specimens are as large as 4½ feet in diameter.

Further enhancing the beauty of the park woodlands are a few broad-leaved trees and a large variety of attractive shrubs and undergrowth. No less than nine willows, two alders, and a maple are among the more abundant and conspicuous shrubs which fringe the streams and clothe the meadows. The timid aspens (Populus tremuloides) grow beside the larger trees of the cone-bearing species, their small roundish leaves trembling in mountain breezes. The black cottonwoods (Populus trichocarpa) also mingle with the evergreen trees in the deep canyons.

Many travelers visit Crater Lake, view the majestic splendor of the world-famed scenic wonder, and leave without realizing the beauties of the forest lands about them. A visit to the park is assuredly most complete after pleasant summer nights spent encamped under the spreading limbs of its stately hemlocks, pines, and firs. The sweet aroma of the woods, their carpeted floors and rustling leaves, add much to the joy and inspiration of a visit.

WILD FLOWERS

With a list of over 570 flowering plants and ferns, Crater Lake’s richness in species and individuals compares favorably with other national parks. This is not at first apparent to the visitor. If he enters by the usual gateways and travels the beaten paths, he may even be disappointed in