Resting in the ruins of the
fantastic volcanic eruption of Mt. Mazama 7,700 years ago,
Crater Lake has formed one of the great geologic marvels of
the United States, as well as becoming one of the feature
tourist attractions for anyone coming to Oregon. Recently,
the National Park Service has decided to accomodate this popularity
by expanding the existing trail system to include some of
the relatively remote areas along the eastern flanks of the
mountain. To this end, they have enlisted our help in developing
a suitability surface to separate potential routes for a new
trail to serve as an extension of the existing routes up to
the crater rim.
According to the selection criteria initially specified by
NPS the following variables were collectively considered and
weighted in order of decreasing importance:
•
Minimize slope
•
Favour an eastern aspect
•
Distant from roads
•
Favour specific vegatation types; namely Lodgepole and
Ponderosa Pine, Mountain Hemlock, and Shasta Red Fir
•
Distant from trails (i.e. to avoid overlapping routes)
•
Minimize river crossings (in order to reduce construction
cost)
Note:
Factor weights used
in the final analysis will be discussed in the results
section to follow.
DEM of Crater Lake
(source: http://craterlake.wr.usgs.gov/data.html
)
The end product of this proposal should
layout a route for the easiest possible hike from the crater
rim to the nearest road at the park perimenter while passing
through tree stands, avoiding river crossings, and remaining
as removed from existing development as feasible.
