The Old Man and the Lake

Kreyter Lake, Lake in Oregon, one of the ten deepest lakes in the world. Intense blue and clear water - a consequence of feeding the reservoir melting snow and rain - for many years attracted the attention of naturalists and explorers.

One of these was the naturalist Joseph Diller. Carrying out geological research in 1896, he mentioned in his diary about the strange log sticking out vertically, not far from shore. Returning after several years on the lake, Diller once said log. It is still stuck up vertically, and for five years has shifted to 400 meters. Since then, the tree was observed regularly, taking something for the boat, then a pelican. "Lake old man became the" custodian "of the crater. In 1938, Washington sent an expedition to observe the stump. It turned out that this is a coniferous tree trunk hemlock, length slightly more than nine meters and a diameter of about 60 centimeters. It can easily withstand the weight of a person, and under the action of waves and wind, "Old Man" is capable of traveling along the perimeter of the lake, passing at times up to seven miles a day.

Feature of the "Old Man" to appear in an unexpected place - a hazard to navigation, so the owners of boats, for their own safety, must communicate the location of an old stump with each other. In 1988, the expedition studied the lake bottom with submarines, intended to raise the tree on the beach because it constantly spun close to the scientists, presenting a risk of collision, but when researchers began to pull the "Old Man", a storm rose and tore the whole operation. Stump decided to leave alone.

"Lake old man, contrary to the predictions, for more than a hundred years of floating on waves Kreyter Lake, interested in everything that happens in his realm.