ill., maps; Shipping list no.: 2010-0125-P; Includes bibliographical references (p. 235-237) and index
Foreword With so much attention fixed in a document like this on how well the material manifestations of a scenic road can be judged against an ideal dubbed "design with nature," it is easy to forget how people experience Rim Drive. There is a need in this cultural landscape report to conceptualize Rim Drive as a structure with component parts, locked into a space consisting only of immediate surroundings called the "roadway" which is punctuated by stops designed individually as a way to enhance nature's variety and sublime qualities. A larger landscape context, one that intrigues visitors to drive the road, can largely go missing from a work aimed at illuminating the original design intent and then preserving what resulted from it. A landscape architect known to both of us recently provided some "Notes on the Experience of Rim Drive" consisting of several pages. Iain Robertson rightly characterizes the road as a constantly changing experience, with a sequence of views that are often vast in scale. It is to journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape, where the devastating power and fury of Mazama's great eruption furnishes the rim with its pervasive character of crumbling instability. That the beauty of Crater Lake could arise from cataclysm makes it one of the purest expressions of the sublime in nature, at least in the eyes of many. Seeing this landscape as an expression of time--endless in duration on the human scale, but really quite short in relation to the enormous breadth of eons--is essential. Power and beauty are also critical to understanding the lake's genesis, and thus the road around its rim. These form a trinity for those seeking the larger meanings associated with this place, but these concepts are also useful in organizing how Rim Drive is experienced. Set into a preliminary geographic context, Crater Lake and its road circuit are atop of a peak like some others in the Cascade Range whose weathered faces receive rain and snow from prevailing southwest winds. Far from a smooth shaven cone, preemption Mazama exhibited protrusions from numerous side vents. Flows were likely evident in lop-sided extrusions on the mountain's flanks, but they also contained valleys carved by glaciers. The great eruption created a caldera along a ring fracture XI zone which also broke ridges and truncated the upper ends of valleys whose creeks drain into the larger Rogue or Klamath drainage basins. Aridity accentuates the dramatic tension of Rim Drive, since angular forms resulting from the eruption are only slightly muted or softened by vegetation. Great fields of pumice punctuate stands of mountain hemlock, true fir, and lodgepole pine below the rim and down Mazama's slopes toward other mountains in the distance. Crags and abrupt precipices lead the viewer to the sometimes placid and indescribably blue water of Crater Lake. Driving, and time spent outside of a car in this setting, forces visitors to look inward and then outward for contrast, surprise, and maybe some new insights. Large-scale panoramas stand in opposition to enclosure when the road is situated in one of the valleys, yet this feeling changes abruptly to an exposure when motorists cross an open ridgeline. At this point Rim Drive climbs skyward, seemingly intent on releasing its traffic into the air, only to descend into subalpine forests of deep seclusion. The more open slopes are characterized by almost sterile pumice, which is sometimes adorned by sedges and knotweed, but vertical cuts place Rim Drive on ledges often strewn with rockfall. Crumbling edges, dizzy heights, and dark woods make Rim Drive restless rather than repetitive if only visitors perceive the changing scene as a story. This one is cinematic, with the road's alignment able to supply running commentary on a volcanic landscape that is special, sublime, and a monument to uncertainty. A cultural landscape report should take into account the broader aspects of a setting such as the rim of Crater Lake which affect the material qualities of its circuit road. Yet the experience of Rim Drive, as well as its design and construction, changes along the route, and the current condition of component parts form the background to treatment of a complex cultural resource. Treatment recommendations form the heart of this report, ones which range from the specifics of stone masonry to preserving the elements of what manifests itself as visual unity. Our intended audience is the park's maintenance staff, who will surely do their utmost to perpetuate the road and its contributing features for decades to come. Stephen R. Mark Jerry Watson xn
Foreword With so much attention fixed in a document like this on how well the material manifestations of a scenic road can be judged against an ideal dubbed "design with nature," it is easy to forget how people experience Rim Drive. There is a need in this cultural landscape report to conceptualize Rim Drive as a structure with component parts, locked into a space consisting only of immediate surroundings called the "roadway" which is punctuated by stops designed individually as a way to enhance nature's variety and sublime qualities. A larger landscape context, one that intrigues visitors to drive the road, can largely go missing from a work aimed at illuminating the original design intent and then preserving what resulted from it. A landscape architect known to both of us recently provided some "Notes on the Experience of Rim Drive" consisting of several pages. Iain Robertson rightly characterizes the road as a constantly changing experience, with a sequence of views that are often vast in scale. It is to journey through a post-apocalyptic landscape, where the devastating power and fury of Mazama's great eruption furnishes the rim with its pervasive character of crumbling instability. That the beauty of Crater Lake could arise from cataclysm makes it one of the purest expressions of the sublime in nature, at least in the eyes of many. Seeing this landscape as an expression of time--endless in duration on the human scale, but really quite short in relation to the enormous breadth of eons--is essential. Power and beauty are also critical to understanding the lake's genesis, and thus the road around its rim. These form a trinity for those seeking the larger meanings associated with this place, but these concepts are also useful in organizing how Rim Drive is experienced. Set into a preliminary geographic context, Crater Lake and its road circuit are atop of a peak like some others in the Cascade Range whose weathered faces receive rain and snow from prevailing southwest winds. Far from a smooth shaven cone, preemption Mazama exhibited protrusions from numerous side vents. Flows were likely evident in lop-sided extrusions on the mountain's flanks, but they also contained valleys carved by glaciers. The great eruption created a caldera along a ring fracture XI zone which also broke ridges and truncated the upper ends of valleys whose creeks drain into the larger Rogue or Klamath drainage basins. Aridity accentuates the dramatic tension of Rim Drive, since angular forms resulting from the eruption are only slightly muted or softened by vegetation. Great fields of pumice punctuate stands of mountain hemlock, true fir, and lodgepole pine below the rim and down Mazama's slopes toward other mountains in the distance. Crags and abrupt precipices lead the viewer to the sometimes placid and indescribably blue water of Crater Lake. Driving, and time spent outside of a car in this setting, forces visitors to look inward and then outward for contrast, surprise, and maybe some new insights. Large-scale panoramas stand in opposition to enclosure when the road is situated in one of the valleys, yet this feeling changes abruptly to an exposure when motorists cross an open ridgeline. At this point Rim Drive climbs skyward, seemingly intent on releasing its traffic into the air, only to descend into subalpine forests of deep seclusion. The more open slopes are characterized by almost sterile pumice, which is sometimes adorned by sedges and knotweed, but vertical cuts place Rim Drive on ledges often strewn with rockfall. Crumbling edges, dizzy heights, and dark woods make Rim Drive restless rather than repetitive if only visitors perceive the changing scene as a story. This one is cinematic, with the road's alignment able to supply running commentary on a volcanic landscape that is special, sublime, and a monument to uncertainty. A cultural landscape report should take into account the broader aspects of a setting such as the rim of Crater Lake which affect the material qualities of its circuit road. Yet the experience of Rim Drive, as well as its design and construction, changes along the route, and the current condition of component parts form the background to treatment of a complex cultural resource. Treatment recommendations form the heart of this report, ones which range from the specifics of stone masonry to preserving the elements of what manifests itself as visual unity. Our intended audience is the park's maintenance staff, who will surely do their utmost to perpetuate the road and its contributing features for decades to come. Stephen R. Mark Jerry Watson xn