Crater Lake is thought to have within its blue depths the warriors that came with the “evil one” and who were turned by the “good spirit” into long-armed dragons.

THIS tale is truly as mysterious as it comes. Why you might ask? After all mysteries and legends are often quite mind-boggling, so what’s so different or ‘creepy’ about this one?

Well, this is because the particular location under discussion has not just one or two, but a bundle of mysteries attached to it. This is a lake, beautiful and serene but full of strange occurrences such as folklore, UFO’s, disappearances, haunting, monsters and an evil curse too. Is this one story? Can’t get better or creepier than this.

Crater Lake is situated in Oregon, USA. It is one of the most beautiful and scenic locations in California. We shall start with the formation of the lake first.

Crater Lake, as the name suggests, was formed due to violent eruptions of a dormant volcano, Mount Mazama. The peak of the mountain collapsed into itself after the centre erupted, leaving a bowl-shaped crater. Then rainwater collected in the crater and formed a picturesque lake. It’s a beautiful sight of “Heavenly Blue” which attracts many visitors from around the world. It is known as the deepest lake in America.

According to the Native Klamath tribe, who has lived here for many centuries, the lake is a “doorway” for the good spirits from above and the evil from beneath. Legend has it that the spirit of “peace and goodness” and the spirit “of darkness and below”, fought a battle in which the spirit of goodness won.

Skell, the spirit of goodness, made the mountain collapse and filled it with water to flourish peace. Then he threw the evil Llao’s limbs into the lake. The animals in the lake were faithful to the evil entity, but Skell put them under a trance to eat the limbs of the evil one. But the monsters in the lake recognised their master’s head and refused to eat.

The steep cinder cone rising from the water of the lake is supposed to be the head of Llao. And, of course, another assumptions is that monsters still live in the pristine waters! The guides who take people there still do not face the lake or the mountain as they say it’s cursed.

Now we come to our old friend “Bigfoot”. The large hairy beast is supposed to have been seen there quite often and allegedly killed twice; once by an oncoming train. The conductors of the train were afraid to report this incident thinking they might lose their jobs in case the authorities thought they were drunk on the duty.

While in the second incident, the Park Rangers reported following a dark and foul-smelling creature through the woods that ‘attached’ them by throwing pinecones!

Crater Lake is thought to have within its blue depths the warriors that came with the “evil one” and who were turned by the “good spirit” into long-armed dragons. These frightful creatures are supposed to be the reason for many disappearances near and around the lake.

One day, a woman from Georgia was rowing her boat in the lake when she noticed “a block long” creature slide from beneath her boat. She reported to the authorities of the area, “I have never been so scared in my life. What we saw that day was a monster.” She also added that the Indians were right when they said that monsters live in the lake. And yes, people have disappeared in the area too. Apart from that, there is alleged “lost gold” too around these parts.

A party of gold hunters set out in 1853 to find their friend, “Set-‘em-up”, yes that was the man’s name. Set-‘em-up” had gone to these parts and apparently found. He told his friends that he had found a gold mine. The generous friend had not been heard of for a long time. So his friends went to look for his cabin.

The search around Mount Mazama was a doomed one. One of his friends found the cabin and he rode back waving to other friends. When he was being followed by the friends, his horse tripped, fell and both the owner and his horse died when they hit the rocky terrain. Since then, officially, right from 1976 to 1991, many people, who went exploring the canyon and mountain, have disappeared. Some of their remains were found but the rest remain a mystery.

In February 1997, a pilot flying his jet reported seeing military aircraft chasing some kind of UFO’s. Nothing appeared in the news. Among all the unsolved mysteries, this one takes the “spook”, you folks agree?