When I was a kid, we used to take summer roadtrips from the Seattle area to Lake Shasta where we’d rent a houseboat. One year, we planned a meandering trip home that included a stop at Crater Lake National Park. But then the trip was cut short when I fell off a bunk bed on the houseboat and broke my nose 😬.
20+ years later and I had my next chance to visit the lake, when my wife and I planned a camping trip across Oregon in peak-pandemic times. We admittedly went a little too early in the season - much of the rim was still snowed in and closed to travel - but it was still well worth it for the views alone.
Photos don’t really do Crater Lake justice. It’s just this impossibly blue and deep pool nestled in the mountains, the crater of the now collapsed Mount Mazama (known as Giiwas in the Klamath language).
Crater Lake has been an inspiration and high on my list of models to create since I started 48 Contours. Though it turned out to be the trickiest model yet to produce.
I knew I wanted to feature lake depth data (bathymetry) in this model, so I tracked down a great survey from 2000 that modeled the lake bed bathymetry with sonar. I blended that data with the usual elevation contour data in my modeling process.
But this got especially challenging when it came time to cut the model. Typically I cut these maps in what I call a “fully nested” layout - with every other piece nested within the next (I do this to make layout easier and dramatically reduce wasted material).
But the simultaneously increasing and decreasing elevations kind of broke my brain - and getting this model to layout and cut properly was a challenge. I believe the effort was worth it, with the end result featuring 157 square miles and 4,320’ of elevation plus 1,949’ of lake depth across 10 layers (each represents 480’ vertically, which works out to 1:46905 scale)
The highest point rendered is Mt. Scott (8,934′), with other prominences around the rim such as Garfield Peak and Watchman Peak also l visible. There’s even an appearance by the Pacific Crest Trail, which paths right by the rim of the lake. This is also my first model to incorporate color for the lake layers using water based dye.
The Crater Lake wood topographic map is now available made-to-order in both 20x15” and 10x8” sizes, framed in a selection of handmade hardwood frames