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Wednesday, July 13, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Commentary...
Unfolding mysteries at Lost Lake
By Brent McGregor
Correspondent
Years ago I heard stories
of large fish that lived just
west of Santiam Pass in one
of over 19 lakes in Oregon
that harbor the name Lost
Lake. Perhaps this is the
most fitting lake for the name
because it nearly vanishes
from sight every year. The
water migrates down through
cracks in the ground causing
the lake to empty out each
summer.
Even so, I wanted to see
for myself if the fish story
held any bait. With a snor-
kel and mask, I surveyed the
lake for fish, pulling myself
through marshy areas of
the lake searching for hid-
den trout. After a few passes
around the lake with no luck
I gave up my search, only
to find my body covered in
leeches as I left the water. I
haven’t been swimming there
since.
Last year a set of myste-
rious sink holes in the lake
gained media interest. Each
year the majority of water
from the lake drains down
through sinkholes and disap-
pears. Several reports specu-
late that the water empties
into a lava tube beneath the
lake, and likely finds its way
to Clear Lake in due time.
But some see a different
possibility.
Matt Skeels, a knowl-
edgeable caver from Bend,
reports, “There is no lava
flow that flowed into Lost
Lake and ALSO flowed out
in any quantity that allows
for the creation of lava tubes,
especially on what appears
to be the wrong end of the
lake (the northeast end). It’s
very likely this is a ‘pothole’
as seen in Central Oregon’s
Potholes Flow and others,
where you have portions of
the lava not inflating and cre-
ating collapse-like structures.
These holes are great for
draining water should it come
to settle thousands of years
later, just like it does now at
Lost Lake.”
photo by brent mcGreGor
Mysterious sinkholes drain the waters of lost lake.
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Brent McGregor explores a sinkhole in lost lake.
One can easily see by
crawling down into the sink-
holes that they are not made
of lava, the walls are lake-bed
sediment. It is more likely
that the water is filtering
through cracks and fissures
too small for a human body to
pass through. That is, after the
first few feet.
Arhreev Bauvnav, an
active caver in Washington
state, stopped by Lost Lake
last year and once inside
the first sinkhole that most
people visit, found a way to
crawl through a very tight
passage that led beneath the
lake approximately 45 feet,
at which time the passage
became too tight to follow.
What he found, besides lots of
frogs and newts, were a few
side passages filled with sand,
curves and bends in the pas-
sage and areas blowing strong
air, an indication of more pas-
sage beyond the blockage.
On a recent visit to the
lake, July 5, 2016, I found
the first sinkhole was dry.
There was a very good rea-
son for this: a new sinkhole
has appeared about 20 feet
beyond the old sinkhole. The
new hole measures four feet
wide and over 10 feet long.
It appears the side nearest
the bank covered with grass
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collapsed into the new hole,
opening up a new drain. The
water is flowing directly back
toward the old sink in line
with Arhreev’s sketch map
and obviously following the
same drainage.
The mystery at Lost Lake
continues as more questions
appear on the horizon. But for
now, the lake is completing
its annual cycle as the water
washes down the drain.
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