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.

我们于本周开启了国家公园之旅，奔向西北部的俄勒冈州。那里有一片巨大、深邃的湖泊，湖水蓝得令人难以置信。那是美国最深的湖泊，也是世界上最深的湖泊之一。其湖水被视为地球上最为纯净、清澈的水源之一。湖泊四周活火山环绕，中心是一座小岛，海拔超过230米。这就是克雷特湖国家公园，欢迎光临。

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]美丽的湖景给予了艺术家、摄影爱好者和自然爱好者以灵感。大约7700年前，马扎马火山剧烈的喷发造就了这一美景。炙热的液体——岩浆——从山脚深处不断上升，造成了火山的崩塌，破坏了周围的环境，大量的火山灰覆盖了地面。火山的喷发在山体中心留下了一个巨大的环形岩洞，科学家称之为破火山口。

[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]随后的几百年间，雨水和积雪使岩洞积满了水，成为克雷特湖唯一的水源。因克雷特湖与周围的河流及溪流并无联系，湖水才会如此清澈。随着水量不断增加，该地区的植物重新开始生长，而各种动物也开始返回家园。科学家表明，大约经历250年，湖水才达到了目前的水量。克雷特湖水深592米，是地球上最深的十大湖泊之一。但是，湖水的深度并非该湖仅有的标志，那清澈、湛蓝的湖水也令人叹为观止。大多数日子里，湖水十分清澈，水下30米的景象几乎一览无遗。因水质清澈，湖水呈湛蓝色。阳光可深射湖中。

[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]克雷特湖因地质而得名。火山口是火山顶部一个碗形的区域，而克雷特湖就坐落在面积较大的一个破火山口里。

Human history

人文历史

[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，该地区就有美洲原住民居住。在马扎马火山大喷发遗留的火山灰下，研究者发现了原住民手工制品。随着火山喷发，原住民将克雷特湖视为圣地，古代故事里也描述了马扎马火山的喷发情况。欧洲人直到19世纪中叶才到此地探险和定居。

[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，一位非原住民猎人第一个到达克雷特湖沿岸。1870年，堪萨斯州的一个男孩在报纸上读到了关于俄勒冈州神奇湖泊克雷特湖的一则文章——年轻的威廉·格拉德斯通·斯蒂尔就这样被吸引住了，他发誓一定要亲眼看一看湖泊美景。1872年，斯蒂尔一家搬到了俄勒冈州的波特兰——距离湖北面375公里。13年后，斯蒂尔践行了自己的承诺，亲眼看到了克雷特湖。美丽的湖景深深打动了这位访客，此后17年，他都在为将该湖列为国家公园而奋斗。

[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]作为一名作家，斯蒂尔在1886年的《西岸》杂志上讲述了第一次参观克雷特湖的经历。“这里的每一寸土地都罕有人迹，无人索取。我下定决心，一定要保护这个仙境，世世代代保持其天然、美丽的样子。”斯蒂尔建立国家公园的提议未得到湖泊周围牧羊人和矿工的认可，但他的努力最终得到了回报。

[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，克雷特湖成为了美国第五个国家公园，也是俄勒冈州迄今唯一的国家公园，因此威廉·格拉德斯通·斯蒂尔也被视为“克雷特湖之父”。

Visiting the Park

克雷特湖公园之行

[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]克雷特湖国家公园占地740平方米，而该湖面积不足整个公园面积的十分之一。湖泊四周群山环绕，密林丛生。在森林的庇护下，多种动物在该地区生活，包括黑熊、驼鹿、猫头鹰等。

[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]克雷特湖国家公园每年大约接待48万名游客。游客或驾车，或骑车，或徒步。根据天气状况，环湖公路通常会在每年7月到10月间开放。沿着公路，游客可欣赏到罕见的湛蓝色湖水和周围丛林。公园内还设有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]克利特伍德湾道下行200多米直通克雷特湖边，路尽头的区域可游泳。湖水非常寒冷，大多数游泳者坚持不了几分钟。克雷特湖平均温度大约3摄氏度，夏季湖水表面温度可升至约10摄氏度。游客可在克利特伍德湾道的终点乘船游览。公园管理员引导人们登船，沿湖观赏美景。游客也可乘船到巫师岛，该岛位于克雷特湖西部。

[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]巫师岛由火山喷发形成，高出湖床760余米。但此岛大部分区域却位于水下约500米。游客可以在岛上远足、游泳和垂钓。此地也是休闲和欣赏大自然的绝佳地点。不过，这样的奇异之地在公园内随处可寻。自我探寻也是克雷特湖国家公园魔力之旅的一部分。