This week is Oregon, and The Pacific Northwest is a hotbed for Bigfoot sightings. Yet, when I started looking for reports, Bigfoot wasn’t the one that appeared the most. Crater Lake showed up a lot more often than any cryptid, including Bigfoot.

Crater Lake, like Pyramid lake, is haunted. In fact, Crater Lake is a combination of Nevada’s Pyramid Lake and Arizona’s Superstition Mountains.

You have the mysterious deaths and disappearances of miners looking for gold. Then there are the spontaneous suicides and creepy sounds. If that isn’t enough to pique your interest? Crater Lake is home to numerous UFO sightings as well.

So buckle your seatbelt and let’s take a wild ride through Crater Lake’s spooky history.

Crater Lake was discovered or found on May 22. 1902. The lake is five miles in diameter and is 1,943 feet deep. It was created from a volcano and is the deepest lake in the United States. Almost 8,000 years ago, Mount Mazama collapsed, and melted snow filled the crater. Since the lake is entirely from snow, it is the most transparent blue water.

On the lake are three landmasses rumored to be as haunted as the lake. The first is Wizard Island, named for its shape similar to a wizard’s hat. Witnesses claim to see ghostly campfires on and around the island. There have been so many reports that Crater Lake rangers investigated. Nothing. The rangers found no proof of lit campfires, no smoke, ashes, or any evidence there had been a fire at all.

Then there is Phantom Ship Island. Depending on what time you see it and how you look at it, the island disappears. That is how it got its name. Something about the lighting and the lighting of the island creates an optical illusion. An illusion where it seems the mysterious island disappears.

The creepiest is the Old Man of the Lake, which is a log. The Old Man is a log that has floated upright for over a hundred years with no weight. It defies physics and has mystified visitors and rangers alike. He sticks up above the water line four feet, while the rest of him is submerged thirty feet below the water. No one can figure out how the Old Man does this.

It is a pretty nifty trick.

Crater Lake is home to the Klamath, Modoc, and Yahooskin tribes and members of these tribes say the lake is a site of power and danger. It acts as a doorway between earth and hell and beings live inside the lake. If you stare too long at the lake? It will mesmerize you and hold you prisoner, unable to get free and even lead you to your death.

The most mysterious story was reported in 1944. Two Grumman Torpedo planes were flying in formation on a beautiful clear day. The other pilot casually glanced over to his partner, except there was no partner. The other plane was gone. One minute there, and the next was gone. There was no distress call made, nothing to indicate that the other pilot was in trouble.

Search and rescue later determined that the plane crashed in the lake. The aircraft sank to the bottom, but nobody knows why. It was like the lake pulled it from the sky and slammed it into the lake.

Eerie as hell.

In 1947, a park visitor exploring Crater Lake with his wife one day. Without reason or warning, he hands his wife his wallet and slides into the lake. Unfortunately, he slid to the water’s edge and broke his ankle instead. But that didn’t stop Mr. Cornelius. He slipped into the lake and drowned himself.

No one knows why.

A photographer by the name of Charles McCuller came to photograph Crater Lake’s beauty. He arrived in 1974 and never left the park. The creepy part of this story is that in 1976, Rangers only found his pants, socks, and bone fragments. It was as if the rest of his body melted away.

If that is true? What could cause a body to melt? Another interesting question is, where did his coat, shirt, and camera equipment go?

Now you would think these crazy events would make people think twice about building at the lake. Nope.

The idiots built Crater Lake Lodge, and yes, there are stories of the haunted lodge. One story, in particular, stands out about the little girl that roams the halls. If that isn’t spooky enough, another tale of the Chinese man haunts the elevator might be scarier for you.

If strange disappearances and mysterious suicides aren’t enough? Ghostly tales are uninteresting; there is the Crater Lake serpent. A Georgia woman swears that a Dragon-like creature swam away from her boat.

Still not impressed? There have been unworldly reports of UFOs also haunting the area. For example, on February 4, 1997, three bright discs raced across the lake at high speeds. In addition, there have been numerous sightings of strange lights in the sky over the lake. Witnesses claim that sometimes the lights go into the water and disappear into the lake’s watery depths.

To end our litany of strange occurrences at Crater lake? There is Bigfoot. That is correct; there have been many sightings of our furry friend there. Rangers followed a massive hairy figure into the forest. It caught their attention because it walks on two feet upright. Dark, hairy and gigantic, plus walking upright.

Yup! Sound like Bigfoot to me.

I would have followed it, curiosity getting the better of me. The rangers tracked into the woods, but when they tried to get closer to the hairy beastie. It spotted them and wasn’t happy about being followed. So the beastie started throwing pine cones at the rangers. The rangers had to pull back because the missiles were connecting painfully.

I don’t know about you, but I am inquisitive now about Crater Lake. I’m not sure what I want to experience: ghosts, Bigfoot, UFOs, or the lake itself.

If you get there before me, don’t go alone. Something creepy is going on at Crater Lake.

Featured Image by Art Bromage from Pixabay