Crater Lake,  Crater Lake National Park,  Aug 16, 2004 - Aug 19, 2004     page 25 / 36

We boarded the boat and headed out early, about 1:45PM. The tour took us counter clockwise around the lake stopping at several locations, usually to learn about the area geology.

Below is the Devil's Backbone, a series of flat, hard rock plates extending all the way up the rim. Long before the lake developed, when a crack existed in the earth's surface, molten magma worked its way up the crack, then cooled very slowly, creating these hard plates. Mt. Mazama's collapse caused the surrounding land to fall back into the caldera, leaving behind this narrow broken ridge. The tallest portion is 800 feet high and roughly 50 feet wide!