Old Man of the Lake
Reading a title like “Old Man of the Lake” would normally not make me want to read the article, but when I saw what the “old man” actually was I could resist and read it.
The picture above is of the “Old Man of the Lake” that is actually a tree stump that floats vertically for over 100 years in Crater Lake, in central Oregon. A blog entitled “A Blast From The Past” has an interesting article about this tree stump.
To Quote:
“It would not be difficult to argue that Crater Lake, in central Oregon, is the most beautiful body of fresh water in the world. The lake, which is almost perfectly circular in shape, in unquestionably startling. It sits at the top of a 7,000-foot-high dormant volcano and fills its crater. It is about six miles from side to side, a remarkable 2,000 feet deep (ranking it ninth in the world in terms of depth), and is almost entirely surrounded by cliffs that rise to heights of well over 1,000 feet above its chilly waters. No rivers or even streams flow into it; the lake is filled entirely with snowmelt and rainwater, and though it practically glows indigo in the North West’s summer sunshine, its water is actually so crystal clear that plant life has been found merrily photosynthesizing on the bottom at depths of 300 feet.
What makes Crater Lake unique, though, is its most celebrated occupant: not a fish, not a bird, but a floating tree trunk known familiarly for decades as the Old Man of the Lake. And what makes this ancient hemlock so very remarkable is that it has been bobbing, absolutely vertically, in the water for as long as Crater Lake has been documented. The Old Man has certainly been there for well over a hundred years, since the earliest known reference to it dates back to 1896 – and while its stump, two feet wide and bleached white by many years of sun, has lost a little of its topmost parts during that time (it used to project five feet above the surface, but now, thanks largely to the habit tourists had of jumping from their boats onto its tip, it has lost the top foot or two of its superstructure), this has not affected its stability. Like an iceberg, the Old Man hides most of its bulk beneath the surface; those who get close to it can look down and see some 30 feet of barkless trunk stretching down into the depths of the lake.”
Do yourself a favour, check out the article on how it was first documented in 1883, first photographed in 1901 (see the photo) and see how researchers tracked the movement of this old stump. Link: http://allkindsofhistory.wordpress.com/2011/05/09/the-old-man-of-the-lake/
I thought it was an interesting article and that is why I am sharing it with you.
(Source: A Blast From The Past)
