This past weekend I traveled south to Oregon to visit Clear Lake on the MacKenzie River. I'd read about this location and even visited it briefly a few years ago. So when the opportunity to do a trip to the lake was offered by Olympia UWS I decided to go for it.
Clear Lake is a bit over 3000 feet in elevation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clear_Lake ... y,_Oregon). It forms the headwaters of the McKenzie River and is fed by natural springs of snowmelt. The lake was formed by a volcanic eruption 3,000 years ago and has upright trees perfectly preserved from when the lake was initially created. The bottom is composed of mostly a fine ash sediment, with some modest rock walls at the southern end.
At 43 degrees you need to be sure to have a drysuit with your warmest undergarments and drygloves if possible. Even so, my fingers complained after about 20 minutes and our longest dive was only 40 minutes.
We started off with a couple of dives from the boat ramp at the south end. At this location there's a wall of volcanic rock that extends down about 30 feet or so, with ash below going down to the bottom at nearly 200 feet. (We only ventured as far as 70 feet).
There's not a lot of life to see in this cold water but we did run into a number of medium sized Brook Trout, mostly in patches of moss.
I had expected to see an occasional trout free swimming potentially making them difficult to photograph. To my surprise they were for the most part sleeping on the bottom, to the extent that I could get as close as I wanted without their taking flight. (Perhaps their trout-brain simply had no concept that a diver with a camera posed a threat of any kind).
These trout are planted by Oregon Fish and Wildlife for recreational fishing and so aren't native. Its hard to see how these fish might be able to survive to reproduce in this cold water. Because of the fishing activity just about every snag or rock is going to have a collection of fishing line and gear. We even found two poles complete with fishing gear and working reels on our first dive of the day.
The highlight of the trip was the night dive from the shores of the resort at the north end, timed to a full moon. After negotiating the somewhat rocky entry we turned off our lights to swim in the darkness. At first, the descent was disorienting as the bottom appeared to be in motion. Then I realized that I was looking at the surface ripples in moonlight reflected on the bottom. As we swam along in the dark we could see ghostlike dead trees in an eerie moonscape of white, lit only by the lunar glow. I had my camera with me but realized that no photograph could do this scene justice.
All in all, a fun introduction to altitude diving in a lake renowned for its visibility. Worth the drive for a fun weekend away from the usual haunts.
Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
- dphershman
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Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
Dan Hershman
Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
Great report! Thanks for telling the story...
More Pics Than You Have Time To Look AT
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
"Anyone who thinks this place is over moderated is bat-crazy anarchist." -Ben, Airsix
"Warning: No dive masters are going to be there, Just a bunch of old fat guys taking pictures of fish." -Bassman
Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
Sounds nicer than I imagined. How far a drive is it from Portland?
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Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
Thanks for the story and the pics, would like diving clear lake sometime. Love the trout shots!
- dphershman
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Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
If you're in the Portland area it's definitely worth doing.CaptnJack wrote:Sounds nicer than I imagined. How far a drive is it from Portland?
It's about 2 1/2 hours from Portland by way of Salem and Detroit and fairly pleasant without really bad traffic.
The trip from Portland back to Seattle on a Sunday afternoon however tests ones' patience.
Dan Hershman
Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
Seven Seas Scuba is going down there on Saturday. They will be giving the Altitude Specialty class tomorrow night. I believe there is still room if anyone wants to join them. Call the shop to reserve a spot.
Georgia
NOT diving is NOT an option
NOT diving is NOT an option
- dphershman
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Re: Altitude Diving at Clear Lake Oregon
This is a great location for doing an altitude course. Don't make the mistake of driving up there and hopping into the water in the assumption that your dive computer will correctly compensate for the altitude change.WylerBear wrote:Seven Seas Scuba is going down there on Saturday. They will be giving the Altitude Specialty class tomorrow night. I believe there is still room if anyone wants to join them. Call the shop to reserve a spot.
Dan Hershman