HELPING THE WINTER VISITOR

by John Salinas

Volunteers at Crater Lake National Park participate in many activities. The Friends of Crater Lake National Park provide special training opportunities to their members. On November 5th there will be training for volunteers to help with the winter information desk at Steel Center. This is the visitor center for the park with all winter visitors stopping by for information to help make their visit enjoyable.

This winter there will be no other facility offering information or snacks. We predict the Steel Information Desk will be a happening place, especially on week-ends and holiday periods. If you volunteer to help for a week-end or more than a single day during a holiday period, there will be accommodations for you to stay overnight in the park.

Greg Reddell at the Snowshoe Hike sign up and the Winter Visitor Desk when it was at the Rim Village Restaurant.

Staying in the volunteer house is really an enjoyable part of the volunteer's visit and makes the effort to help worth while.

Working at the Steel Information Desk is quite enjoyable and relaxed. Visitors come in through the north snow tunnel and are usually interested in things to do. As volunteers, we work shoulder to shoulder with the park staff to answer the traditional questions and offer ideas for a pleasant outing. The park movie is shown through the day and lasts about 20 minutes. Visitors do like to relax in the 'theater room' and watch the video introduction to the park.

Most people peruse the book shelves and other items for sale around the room and then focus on the park map or the staff behind the counter. Some will purchase a hot drink or soup and relax in the area looking at the snow piled over the window.

Discussion usually revolves around their drive to the park. The road was clear and dry, or it was icy and a little slippery. People can drive from Portland, or Klamath Falls in a day to the park. But most people stay overnight somewhere close if they are from some distance. Over the Christmas holiday, travelers from California and beyond visit and tell stories of how the snow in the park is so different from their winters in Bakersfield or where ever.

The ranger lead snowshoe hike begins at 1 PM every Saturday and Sunday. If visitors are in the area early, like before 11, there is enough time to grab a bit to eat and meet the ranger at 1 PM for a two hour walk through the snow and trees. This is the best winter event for visitors of all ages. The Park Service loans hikers snowshoes and we all learn a new way to walk in the deep snow.

Last winter my wife and daughter, Kathleen and Tamela, took off on a very deep snow morning on their snowshoes from the Steel Building and made a circle trail up to the Science and Learning Center. Their trail was later used by me to guide twenty visitors out into the wintry beauty of the area without overexerting myself. Their effort was appreciated. Once the snow is compacted, it is a relative easy walk, but if it is 18 inches of powder, then it becomes very difficult for one person to walk for a mile or so. The hike usually ends with appreciative smiles and hopes to do it again someday.

Most visitors would not venture off the paved area without this wonderful winter activity provided free of charge by the Park Service.

Volunteers provide travel information as well as winter weather conditions to visitors. Most visitors are interested in road conditions in the area, or to Klamath Falls, or Salem. They are headed somewhere and we can often help them plan their travel. Some highways in Oregon are closed in winter. That would be helpful information to pass on. Weather in and around Crater Lake can quickly change. Visitors should be aware of these conditions and be ready to change plans if needed. The amount of precipitation and depth of snow on the ground is always a point of discussion.

And then there are the outdoors folk that visit. Snowboarders, cross country skiers, snowshoers and others will drop in to the Steel Information Desk for information and advice about Park ski trails. Of course there are rules and guidelines for everyone to follow in the backcountry. Maybe the most important is being prepared for changing weather conditions and being aware of the current weather. Several park ski trails are dangerous and have avalanche bypass trails that route hikers around the dangers. Volunteers at the Steel Information Desk should be aware of these dangers and pass that information on to hikers.

The winter view from the Rim Village Snow Culvert. Llao Rock with a elevation of 8049 feet will be plastered with snow after winter storms.

If folks plan to stay out overnight, they must fill out a backcountry permit. This document helps rangers and ski patrol members keep track of visitors in the backcountry.

The Ski Patrol skied (trudged) up the East Road is 18 inches of new powder last year knowing there was a single overnight skier that was coming out on Saturday. When they found his track and then him, he was so thankful that he was now on a track and could 'glide' back to the Headquarters area. Boy was he happy. He remarked that we had way too much snow and way too few skiers in the area. But he was from 'back East' and wasn't aware of conditions in our area.

So the volunteer at the Winter Desk is a very important piece for a visitor's safe visit to Crater Lake National Park in the winter season.

By John Salinas
Friends of Crater Lake Board
Crater Lake Ski Patrol

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