Crater Lake National Park—A Blue Jewel

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This week on our national parks journey, we travel to the northwestern state of Oregon.Here, you will find a huge, deep lake.Its waters seem impossibly blue.It is the deepest lake in America and one of the deepest lakes in the world.Its water is among the clearest and purest found on Earth.Around the lake runs the wall of an extinct volcano.In the middle of the lake a small island rises over 230 meters above the surface.Welcome to Crater Lake National Park.

我們于本周開啟了國家公園之旅，奔向西北部的俄勒岡州。那里有一片巨大、深邃的湖泊，湖水藍得令人難以置信。那是美國最深的湖泊，也是世界上最深的湖泊之一。其湖水被視為地球上最為純凈、清澈的水源之一。湖泊四周活火山環繞，中心是一座小島，海拔超過230米。這就是克雷特湖國家公園，歡迎光臨。

Reflections in Crater Lake

湖中魅影

[2]The lake’s beauty inspires artists,photographers and nature lovers.That beauty was born from the violent burst of Mount Mazama about 7,700 years ago.Hot liquid—called magma—rose from deep under the mountain, causing it to collapse.The powerful burst destroyed the surrounding area.Huge amounts of ash fell on the land.The burst also left an enormous, circular hole in the mountain’s center.Scientists call this a caldera.

[2]美麗的湖景給予了藝術家、攝影愛好者和自然愛好者以靈感。大約7700年前，馬扎馬火山劇烈的噴發造就了這一美景。炙熱的液體——巖漿——從山腳深處不斷上升，造成了火山的崩塌，破壞了周圍的環境，大量的火山灰覆蓋了地面。火山的噴發在山體中心留下了一個巨大的環形巖洞，科學家稱之為破火山口。

[3]Over the next hundreds of years,rain and snow filled the hole with water.Rainfall and snowfall are the lake’s only source of water.It has no connections to the rivers and streams around it.That is what keeps its waters so pure.As water collected, plants began to grow in the area again and animals returned.Scientists say it took about 250 years for the lake to rise to its current water level.Crater Lake is 592 meters deep.It is one of the 10 deepest on Earth.But, its depth is not the only remarkable quality.People are awed by its water color and clarity.Crater Lake is so clear that, on most days, you can see nearly 30 meters below the surface.The lake takes on its intense blue color because of the water’s clarity.Sunlight reaches deep into the water.

[3]隨后的幾百年間，雨水和積雪使巖洞積滿了水，成為克雷特湖唯一的水源。因克雷特湖與周圍的河流及溪流并無聯系，湖水才會如此清澈。隨著水量不斷增加，該地區的植物重新開始生長，而各種動物也開始返回家園。科學家表明，大約經歷250年，湖水才達到了目前的水量。克雷特湖水深592米，是地球上最深的十大湖泊之一。但是，湖水的深度并非該湖僅有的標志，那清澈、湛藍的湖水也令人嘆為觀止。大多數日子里，湖水十分清澈，水下30米的景象幾乎一覽無遺。因水質清澈，湖水呈湛藍色。陽光可深射湖中。

[4]Crater Lake gets its name from geology.A crater is a large bowl-shaped area on top of a volcano.The crater that formed the lake sits within the larger caldera.

[4]克雷特湖因地質而得名。火山口是火山頂部一個碗形的區域，而克雷特湖就坐落在面積較大的一個破火山口里。

Human history

人文歷史

[5]Native Americans were in the area even before the lake’s formation.Researchers have found artifacts buried under layers of ash and dust from Mount Mazama’s huge eruption.Following the burst, Native Americans considered Crater Lake to be a holy place.Ancient Native American stories describe the eruption of Mount Mazama.European explorers and settlers did not arrive in the area until the middle 1800s.

[5]早在克雷特湖形成之前，該地區就有美洲原住民居住。在馬扎馬火山大噴發遺留的火山灰下，研究者發現了原住民手工制品。隨著火山噴發，原住民將克雷特湖視為圣地，古代故事里也描述了馬扎馬火山的噴發情況。歐洲人直到19世紀中葉才到此地探險和定居。

[6]In 1865, a hunter became one of the first non-Native Americans to reach the shores of Crater Lake.In 1870, a boy in Kansas read a newspaper article about the strange lake in Oregon.The story about Crater Lake fascinated the young William Gladstone Steel.He promised himself he would one day see this lake.In 1872, Steel’s family moved to Portland, Oregon, about 375 kilometers north of the lake.Thirteen years later, Steel honored his promise and visited Crater Lake.Its beauty moved him greatly.He began a 17-year fight to preserve the area as a public park.

[6]1865年，一位非原住民獵人第一個到達克雷特湖沿岸。1870年，堪薩斯州的一個男孩在報紙上讀到了關于俄勒岡州神奇湖泊克雷特湖的一則文章——年輕的威廉·格拉德斯通·斯蒂爾就這樣被吸引住了，他發誓一定要親眼看一看湖泊美景。1872年，斯蒂爾一家搬到了俄勒岡州的波特蘭——距離湖北面375公里。13年后，斯蒂爾踐行了自己的承諾，親眼看到了克雷特湖。美麗的湖景深深打動了這位訪客，此后17年，他都在為將該湖列為國家公園而奮斗。

[7]Steel was a writer.He described one of his first visits to Crater Lake in 1886 in the “West Shore” magazine.“Not a foot of the land about the lake has been touched or claimed.An overmastering conviction came to me that this wonderful spot must be saved,wild and beautiful, just as it was, for all future generations.” His proposal of creating a national park did not please nearby sheep herders and miners.But,his efforts succeeded anyway.

[7]作為一名作家，斯蒂爾在1886年的《西岸》雜志上講述了第一次參觀克雷特湖的經歷。“這里的每一寸土地都罕有人跡，無人索取。我下定決心，一定要保護這個仙境，世世代代保持其天然、美麗的樣子。”斯蒂爾建立國家公園的提議未得到湖泊周圍牧羊人和礦工的認可，但他的努力最終得到了回報。

[8]On May 22, 1902 Crater Lake became the country’s fifth national park.It remains the only national park in Oregon.And William Gladstone Steel is called the “Father of Crater Lake.”

[8]1902年 5月 22日，克雷特湖成為了美國第五個國家公園，也是俄勒岡州迄今唯一的國家公園，因此威廉·格拉德斯通·斯蒂爾也被視為“克雷特湖之父”。

Visiting the Park

克雷特湖公園之行

[9]Crater Lake National Park covers 740 square kilometers.The lake itself makes up less than 10 percent of the park.It also includes surrounding mountains and thick forests.The trees shelter many kinds of animals, from black bears to elk to spotted owls.

[9]克雷特湖國家公園占地740平方米，而該湖面積不足整個公園面積的十分之一。湖泊四周群山環繞，密林叢生。在森林的庇護下，多種動物在該地區生活，包括黑熊、駝鹿、貓頭鷹等。

[10]About 480,000 people visit Crater Lake National Park each year.They explore by car, bicycle, or on foot.Roads that encircle Crater Lake usually are open from July through October, depending on weather.They provide breathtaking displays of the lake’s unusual blue color as well as the forests around it.Crater Lake National Park also has more than 140 kilometers of hiking trails.

[10]克雷特湖國家公園每年大約接待48萬名游客。游客或駕車，或騎車，或徒步。根據天氣狀況，環湖公路通常會在每年7月到10月間開放。沿著公路，游客可欣賞到罕見的湛藍色湖水和周圍叢林。公園內還設有140多公里的步行小道。

[11]The Cleetwood Cove Trail drops more than 200 meters down to the edge of Crater Lake.It leads to a spot where swimming is permitted.The water is extremely cold.Most swimmers cannot stay in for more than a few minutes.Crater Lake’s average water temperature is just three degrees Celsius.In summer,the lake’s surface warms to about 10 degrees Celsius.Visitors can also catch a boat from the end of Cleetwood Cove Trail.Park rangers lead visitors on boat rides around the lake.Visitors can also take boats to Wizard Island.The piece of land sits in the western part of the lake.

[11]克利特伍德灣道下行200多米直通克雷特湖邊，路盡頭的區域可游泳。湖水非常寒冷，大多數游泳者堅持不了幾分鐘。克雷特湖平均溫度大約3攝氏度，夏季湖水表面溫度可升至約10攝氏度。游客可在克利特伍德灣道的終點乘船游覽。公園管理員引導人們登船，沿湖觀賞美景。游客也可乘船到巫師島，該島位于克雷特湖西部。

[12]Volcanic eruptions formed Wizard Island.It rises over 760 meters above the lake floor.However, most of the island, about 500 meters, is underwater.At Wizard Island, visitors can hike, swim and fish.It is also a wonderful place to relax and enjoy nature.But,such extraordinary places can be found all over the park.Discovering one’s own is part of the magic to experience at Crater Lake National Park.

[12]巫師島由火山噴發形成，高出湖床760余米。但此島大部分區域卻位于水下約500米。游客可以在島上遠足、游泳和垂釣。此地也是休閑和欣賞大自然的絕佳地點。不過，這樣的奇異之地在公園內隨處可尋。自我探尋也是克雷特湖國家公園魔力之旅的一部分。