Crater Lake Closes To Scuba

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DandyDon

Colonoscopy Advocate
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Location
One kilometer high on the Texas Central Plains
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Almost all of the lakes here in Colorado require boat inspections before any trailer-able boat is launched. I'm surprised that they are as worried about divers bringing in the invasive species. I wonder if any study has been done to determine what the chances are?
 
Just a comment - interesting choice of forums since Crater Lake is in southern Oregon and the Cascade Range -- and now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
 
Regardless of the local, using the zebra mussel risk is a weak argument. Dive gear gets cleaned much better than boats and have fewer locations for the critters to hide. In boats, you have water left in the exhaust and/or cooling systems, plus the trailer, prop and live wells. The boat inspection I have been subject to are a quickie once over the trailer looking for seaweed and asking the owner if they flushed the system and what lake they were in last.

My guess is they had too many divers and/or other issues and this was an easy excuse to close it. The National Parks don't have much money and sometimes turn off an activity is the result.
 
Just a comment - interesting choice of forums since Crater Lake is in southern Oregon and the Cascade Range -- and now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
Is there a different forum for that area? If so, you might tell them. :laughing:
 
Crater lake does not allow outside boats. There is no way to get them to the surface. I think they helicoptered in the jet boats, and there are some row boats, or there were.

There is no way to drive to the lake, just a steep climb down by foot. The jet boat tours are run by the Park Authority. So the only outside influence left is divers. Maybe not a weak argument after all!

The water is VERY cold, but can reach 60f at the surface in the summer. Average temp is 33F so cold. They allow swimming but they can stop that easily if need be. I was born in OR and my Daddy was a park ranger when I lived there.
 
It is probably for the best anyway. That dive violated everything you have ever learned about safe diving.

It is an altitude dive where you have to pack all of your gear into. When you are done you hike about 800 feet up in elevation while loaded with nitrogen. You have to pack it on your back since no wheels of any kind are allowed on the trail. This is extreme excercise with a large increase in elevation after loading up with nitrogen.

There is not much to see even when you do dive it. As a person who was stupid several years ago and did this dive, I can tell you it is not worth it, and I would not do it again.
 
A group of us have done this dive 2 years in a row, and were planning on trip #3 for this year. In one of the articles I read about this, a Ranger acknowledged that only about 10 divers a year hit the lake. The risk of invasives is pretty minimal; realistically, a much greater hazard to water quality comes from the gasoline engines on the tour boats. Fishing is also allowed, and not at all policed- no license required, and no check for live bait. I believe there's still a competitive swim where people are dropped off at Wizard Island, and then swim back to the trail. All those folks are in wetsuits, and there are more than 10 contestants. Haven't heard anything about that being stopped, but since the previous swim in those wetsuits was more likely to be fresh water than salt, that's another exposure (all of us had completely dry drysuits, and our previous dive had been in salt water). Not to get political, but my experience with a lot of government employees tells me that although they may mean well, deep down it's about control. "How dare people enjoy this lake without us being able to stop them", that sort of thing. They're human, with human biases, preconceptions, etc.

As far as dive safety, I definitely recommend nitrox, along with a hefty acclimation period before the dive. Take a good long rest after the dive, hydrate well, and take your time hiking out. It's 1.1 miles down, but it totally feels like 11 miles back up. You should definitely be in good physical condition for this dive, and it helps if you can share weights (and even other gear) among the team.
 
i have been thinking about diving there for a while. the most recent post from the parks people is that they will have a protocol for checking dive gear hopefully for beginning of season 2013. you mention that you have been there twice and planning a third trip. can you tell me what the appeal is- another post mentions cool rock formations and straight up and down walls.... it all depends on what you like, i guess, but geologic formations have always appealed to me, plus i hear the topside portion of the area is spectacular.....
 
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