Deep in Oregon’s Willamette National Forest there is a mysterious lake that disappears each spring.
For as long as locals can remember, the aptly named Lost Lake drains like a bathtub through a 2 metre wide hole each year.
The disappearing act is not magic, but happens due to a collapsed lava tube, according to the Bend Bulletin.
Lava tubes are created during a volcanic eruption when lava starts to harden on the surface but hotter lava continues to flow downhill underneath. It leaves behind a tunnel that can open to the sky following an eruption or through erosion.
Jude McHugh, a spokesman for the Willamette National Forest, told the Bulletin that it’s not known whether the water flowing into the hole travels to an outlet or fills a massive aquifer that feeds springs on both sides of the Cascades.
“Eventually that same water pops up out and I’m having it in my morning coffee right now,” said McHugh.
The lake then fills back up in the winter when the water flowing in from streams of melted snow exceed the amount drained.
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