Watchman & Hillman Peaks at Crater Lake National Park

(Crater Lake National Park) The two peaks looming tall and reflecting in the water are Watchman (on the left) and Hillman (on the right). We are looking at the western side of the caldera. As storms roll off of the Pacific Ocean, they travel inland. When the clouds hit the High Cascades Mountain Range, they rise and cool. The clouds roll over the pictured side of the caldera often carrying copious amounts of precipitation. The precipitation falls in liquid and solid forms. As the weather front continues moving east, it begins to dissipate resulting in the basin and range desert throughout eastern Oregon. This natural occurrence is called the Rain Shadow Effect. Photo: Stephanie Duwe, 2011 NPS, 2020 [Photo depicts snow-dusted peaks with a mirror reflection of the mountains on the surface of Crater Lake.] -Ranger Stephanie