Fifty years ago old Mr. Miller arrived at our community swim club, slipped into the shallow end of the pool, swam a few yards to the deep end and turned over on his back. He closed his eyes, rested his hands on his belly and floated. And floated. And floated some more.
And so we kids, being kids, did everything in our power to disturb his repose. We dove in next to him, swam under him, and splashed beside him. And still old Mr. Miller floated, peaceful and calm as could be. "Dead Man's Float" we called it.
An hour later—and still very much alive—old Mr. Miller turned onto his tummy, swam to the shallow end and climbed out. He toweled off, walked through the gate and drove away, never acknowledging us youngsters and our attempts to rattle him as he drifted about the pool. How does he do it?, we wondered.
The Old Man of Crater Lake is also a floating phenom. And, how does he do it? is a question that has long baffled scientists and observers. This old man is not human—he's a Hemlock log first spotted in 1886. He floats upright and traverses Crater Lake from side to side and end to end; every day finds The Old Man in a different spot than the day before.
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| "The Old Man" Crater Lake is 6 miles in diameter from east to west and 4.5 miles from north to south. The Old Man of Crater Lake has covered more distance than old Mr. Miller could ever have dreamed. |
Many questions surround The Old Man. Where did he come from? Why hasn't he decayed? Why does he float upright instead of turning on his side as logs are prone to do? Mysterious indeed.
At one point scientists wished to remove the Old Man to study him. But after taking a core sample to determine his age—a miraculous 400 years old—they decided to return him to the lake and leave him in peace.
The above questions may never be answered and I find that somehow thrilling in this age of instant information.
Old Mr. Miller is probably long gone; may he rest in peace. Meanwhile The Old Man of Crater Lake floats on, traversing Crater Lake day-in and day-out as he has done for at least 133 years. And the enigma of The Old Man of Crater Lake endures.
*****
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| Magnificent Crater Lake. Our tour group saw the Old Man on a boat trip to Wizard Island. (Center) |
Have you seen the Old Man? Crater Lake National Park offers guided boat tours of the lake, staffed by park service volunteers. You'll learn all about the volcanic eruption which created the lake. And, if you're lucky, you'll catch a glimpse of the Old Man.
5 comments:
What an extremely interesting blog posting, Rita! Your posting prompted me to do some searching on the Internet about the Old Man of Crater Lake. I was surprised by the amount of research that has been conducted.
Of the reports that I read, the theory that makes most sense to me is the hypothesis that when the log slid into the lake more than a century ago, large rocks were entangled in its roots. These natural anchor points would have oriented the stump to float vertically. But even though the rocks are no longer there, it’s hypothesized that the submerged end would have become waterlogged and thus heavier than the exposed end which remained dry. This apparent equilibrium allows the log to be stable in the water in an upright position.
John
This is definitely a mystery since a log of wood that is hundreds of years old is not ordinarily expected to defy the processes of natural degeneration and prompted by the happy hiker, I too googled the old man and it seems he has got some supernatural powers as well, refusing to be tied down ...
What an absolutely wonderful post, Rita!
Hi John and Soumyendu,
First of all, thanks so much for reading and commenting.
I agree that, regarding the vertical flotation of The Old Man, the hypotheses you mentioned, John, makes the most scientific sense. Isn't it great though, that it can't be known for certain exactly how or why The Old Man behaves as he does.
And yes, Soumyendu, the old man "escaped" capture at one point—another mystery!
Wishing you both an autumn filled with fun and adventure!
Hi again Rita,
Today, while searching for something completely UNRELATED to your blog posting, I happened upon the link shown below. I thought MAYBE some of the information presented therein might have some relevance to the “Old Man of Crater Lake”.
https://www.fpl.fs.fed.us/labnotes/?p=2763
John
Hi again John,
Very interesting article. It appears that The Old Man could be too wet to decay beneath the surface, due to lack of oxygen for the fungi to feed on. Although the wood above the surface appeared quite dry when we saw it, plenty of moisture falls on Crater Lake, so I don't think the top half of The Old Man is too dry to decay. Perhaps, as the article says, wood needs just the right mixture of air, moisture, temperature and food source in order to decay. Whatever it is that prevents decay, The Old Man has it!
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