Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

This forum is used to share your experiences out on the trails.
Bruceb
Posts: 6
Joined: August 30th, 2013, 7:31 am
Contact:

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by Bruceb » September 16th, 2013, 8:31 am

This is a fun string of detective work about Broken Top and its lakes and geologic history!
I've read the posts and viewed the maps and pictures. And I've compared to my own memories of my hikes up there: 1. I have hiked into the Crook Glacier inside Broken Top Crater. 2. Have hiked to No Name Lake. 3. Have hiked up from No Name Lake to the divide, then hiked cross-country down across the eastern part of the Bend Glacier and over to Golden Lake, and thence down to Park Meadows. That included camping at a nameless and beautiful tarn, which may be what some have called Golden Lake Tarn.
So, with that background, let me lay out my conclusions, hopefully to generate a consensus!
1. There is no "Crater Lake."
2. If there ever was a "Crater Lake," it was destroyed when the glacial moraine on the Crook Glacier was broken by flooding in the 1966 event. I think if someone could access an old USGS map from prior to 1966, they'd probably see a small lake at the foot of Crook Glacier (similar to the small meltwater pond visible at the foot of Bend Glacier in the photo posted by another person on this string)
3. If there actually is a lake now at the foot of the Crook Glacier, it melts out so infrequently that most will never, ever see it.
Let's keep this string going!
If you are interested the origins of the great gear we get to use in modern times, please see my website: www.historyofgear.com

User avatar
Guy
Posts: 3333
Joined: May 10th, 2009, 4:42 pm
Location: The Foothills of Mt Hood
Contact:

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by Guy » September 17th, 2013, 8:54 am

Your conclusions make sense to me!

I'm very interested in making the high route trip from No Name Lake to the Tarns above Golden lake next year. It looks like it would be a great hike.

Though I could not pick out the Tarns above golden lake with my naked eyes from the ridge above No Name Lake I knew where they should be & so took a zoomed in photo in that direction & was able to pick out one of them.

Image
hiking log & photos.
Ad monte summa aut mors

Bruceb
Posts: 6
Joined: August 30th, 2013, 7:31 am
Contact:

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by Bruceb » September 18th, 2013, 2:19 pm

Your zoomed-in photo looks like the small tarn that my sister and I camped at a number of years ago. It was a beautiful, quiet spot, with a magnificent view of Mt. Jeff framed by the outlet stream!
If you are interested the origins of the great gear we get to use in modern times, please see my website: www.historyofgear.com

Bruceb
Posts: 6
Joined: August 30th, 2013, 7:31 am
Contact:

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by Bruceb » October 9th, 2013, 6:59 am

I'm anxious to hear from anyone who has hiked into the Broken Top Crater late in the season and actually found a LAKE in there. As I've said in a previous post, I believe that if there ever was a lake in there, it was destroyed when the Crater Creek outburst flood happened in Fall of 1966.
If you are interested the origins of the great gear we get to use in modern times, please see my website: www.historyofgear.com

User avatar
Zia
Posts: 252
Joined: September 1st, 2013, 8:30 pm
Location: Salem

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by Zia » October 9th, 2013, 4:23 pm

Bruceb wrote:I'm anxious to hear from anyone who has hiked into the Broken Top Crater late in the season and actually found a LAKE in there. As I've said in a previous post, I believe that if there ever was a lake in there, it was destroyed when the Crater Creek outburst flood happened in Fall of 1966.
I hiked into the crater just a few weeks ago. No lake. Just the glacier and a small puddle of water from it.

User avatar
funhog
Posts: 288
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by funhog » October 10th, 2013, 2:33 pm

I think this is a matter of semantics. There are two craters on Broken Top, one with a lake in it. Both of these articles refer to the gorgeous lake in the upper crater.

http://projects.registerguard.com/web/s ... e.html.csp

http://bendwild.com/2010/03/broken-top- ... g-nirvana/

R11
Posts: 313
Joined: June 22nd, 2011, 12:27 pm
Location: PDX

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by R11 » October 10th, 2013, 3:50 pm

The little "no name" lake on the east side of Broken Top isn't in a crater (caldera). It's just a moraine dam holding the glacier/snow melt.


ron

User avatar
adamschneider
Posts: 3711
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:02 pm
Location: SE Portland
Contact:

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by adamschneider » October 10th, 2013, 10:00 pm

funhog wrote:I think this is a matter of semantics. There are two craters on Broken Top, one with a lake in it. Both of these articles refer to the gorgeous lake in the upper crater.

http://projects.registerguard.com/web/s ... e.html.csp

http://bendwild.com/2010/03/broken-top- ... g-nirvana/
I can't tell about the bendwild.com one, but the Register-Guard article refers to the big milky green lake that's southeast of Bend Glacier; I dunno if I'd call that "upper." That lake is a permanent 10-acre feature on USGS & USFS maps, so it's really weird that it hasn't been given a name:
Image


Zia, did you go up to Crook Glacier?

User avatar
funhog
Posts: 288
Joined: May 28th, 2008, 10:03 pm

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by funhog » October 10th, 2013, 10:49 pm

This thread led me on a geology scavenger hunt this evening. In the process I found this wonderful paper complete with vintage photos before and after the 1966 flood http://www.oregongeology.com/pubs/og/OBv28n10.pdf Skip down to page 10 for the Broken Top info.

I'm no geologist but I'm pretty darn sure that the stunning lake is not in a caldera but in a crater. They are different from one another. Also, I think the trail to the lake is an older FS trail, not a user trail. I have a vintage wilderness map that has the trail clearly marked on it. Also, when you're there you'll see wooden FS signs saying "Broken Top" on them marking it. Regardless, it's a grand destination in one of my favorite places.

R11
Posts: 313
Joined: June 22nd, 2011, 12:27 pm
Location: PDX

Re: Broken Top's Hidden Lake (AKA No Name Lake) - 2013/08/28

Post by R11 » October 11th, 2013, 10:53 am

The Crook Glacier is in what's left of Broken Top's crater. At least in modern times there has never been any lake in the crater. "no name" lake resides in a basin on the northeast flank of Broken Top that was formed by glacial action which deposited the terminal moraine. As the glacier ice receeded the moraine became a moraine dam holding back the glacier/snow melt water, creating the lake. The flood of 1966 was the result of a partial breech of that moraine dam.
Map.jpg
Terminal moraine with breech.jpg

ron

Post Reply