Oregon's Volcano Country

 When we think of volcanos, large cones like Mount Saint Helens come to mind, so we were surprised to learn that an active volcano larger than Rhode Island was right here in Central Oregon.

The Newberry Volcano National Monument is a "shield" volcano, one that produced lava of a thin consistency and have broad sloping sides and sloping hills in a circular pattern that resemble a warrior's shield. Like Yellowstone, it doesn't seem like a volcano until you can view the caldera from above, and unlike Yellowstone, we had that opportunity from Paulina Peak.

But like Yellowstone, the volcano is active and an eruption would impact the lives of as many as 200,000 people.  The entire area is monitored and it is considered by the USGS to be a "very high threat" volcano.  Yikes!

This map clearly shows just how large the volcano in relation to the area and some of the towns and cities that could be affected by an eruption:

With two large lakes in the caldera, this is a popular area for camping and water sports.  Entering the park, we split off of the main road onto a gravel road that climbed to the overlook nearly 8000 feet up.

 From here we had a great view of the two lakes within the caldera, Paulina Lake and East Lake. 

Paulina Lake is the larger of the two with a depth of 250 feet and has produced state record Brown Trout:

From here and looking to the east, it was easy to see the caldera rim:

Looking to the west, we could see the traditional volcanic cones of the Three Sisters, still snow covered on this hot June day:

Driving back down to the caldera floor, our next stop was the Big Obsidian Flow, the newest of the area's volcanic activity at 1300 years old.  Formed by lava, Obsidian is a natural glass with no crystalline structure.  Here's a picture that show just how big the flow is:

And a close up of one of the large obsidian "black glass" rocks:

We finished our visit with a drive around the lake and a stop at Paulina Falls, just below the lake.  Above the falls the forest was green, quiet and beautiful.

We enjoyed our visit to this interesting area and were surprised that an active volcano existed here in Central Oregon.  We're moving east soon, and hope that you'll check back and see our next adventure.

On the Road Again....Finally!

After seven long months of being stationary on the Oregon Coast, we've finally begun our summer of travel.  Our first stop after reaching the I-5 corridor was a Memorial Day's stay at the Seven Feathers RV Resort in Canyonville.  "Resort" is a word used lightly by RV park owners, but Seven Feathers truly fits that definition. 
Disneyland landscaping, beautiful shaded sites, huge indoor pool, exercise room, and manicured walking trails are all meticulously maintained.  And most important, a free shuttle to the casino! 
Visiting the casino was a shock to us - no ID check on entry for contact tracing and no mask!  Being vaccinated this wasn't a problem for us, but it was hard to believe that everyone else had received theirs, and they assured us that there had been no COVID-19 cases reported in over two weeks.  Canyonville is located in a mountainous area of the interstate, and we decided to explore the area by taking a drive east along the South Umqua River.  It was a beautiful drive through a green valley and small towns. 

Milo Academy

In the former town of Milo (now a part of Day's Creek) we came across the Milo Academy, a Seventh Day Adventist boarding school for high school students. It's an interesting place - on former ranch property, it has extensive fields, orchards, shops, and even an equestrian academy. This seemed like an unusual place for an academy -  over 16 miles from the small town of Canyonville and over 60 miles to a city of any size (Grant's Pass).  To enter the academy grounds, you must travel through a picturesque wooden bridge....except that it's not really wooden. 

The original bridge was, but it couldn't bear the weight of trucks that were bringing in building materials and it was replaced with a steel structure.  The locals were unhappy and wanted their wooden bridge back, so the steel was covered with wood.  It's the only one of its kind in Oregon.

Further up the road, we stopped at South Umpqua Falls, which although far off the beaten path was busy with people trying to beat the heat.  Heavily forested, the area was beautiful and the blue skies and sound of rushing water made it a great place to just sit and relax.

From Canyonville, we headed south for a week's stay at Valley of the Rogue (VOR) State Park, a very nice park along the interstate outside of Medford.  We were here to catch up on shopping, restaurants, and have the annual maintenance performed on our motor home.  On the coast we'd been complaining about the cool temperatures.  What we didn't expect was going from 50 degree weather on the coast to 104 degrees on the day we arrived at VOR. 

Our site at Valley of the Rogue

Fortunately, the park was heavily treed and we were parked in shade for most of the day.  It was time to break out the long-ago used shorts and sandals, and although the high temperatures made it sometimes uncomfortable, we enjoyed shopping at places other than Wal-Mart and Fred Meyer!  

We celebrated Brenda's birthday with a trip to Yreka, California's Rain Rock Casino for some gaming and dinner.  On the way, we passed Mt. Shasta which normally would be snow covered.  This year's appearance is another indicator of the light snowpack experienced throughout the Pacific Northwest.  

Mount Shasta June 6th

Temperatures eventually cooled down into the 60s and we packed up and drove north and east over the mountains, passing north of Crater Lake, and then down to Hwy 97 and Crescent.  

We're staying for a week at Big Pines RV Park, a nice park just of the highway.  While the pines aren't all that big, the sites are and it's a comfortable place to stay and it gives us a great location to explore the area.  

Our first trip out was to explore the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway.  We drove west up into the Cascades to the town of Crescent Lake for a bite at the Mountain House Kitchen before driving to the shores of Crescent Lake and Odell lake.  At Crescent Lake we could see snow-covered mountains in the distance.

Crescent  Lake

At Odell Lake, another beautiful vista with Diamond Peak and a large volcanic cone in the distance:

Diamond Peak from Odell Lake

Volcanic Cone from Odell Lake

The Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway is a wonderful drive; smooth pavement with dazzling terrain and beauty - every curve reveals a new view of a distant peak or lake.  We passed blue-green Davis Lake and shortly after, a large lava flow.  This was "blocky" lava instead of the mud-like flows we're used to seeing.  It towered over the highway and seemed out of place:

Blocky Lava

Somehow this Ponderosa Pine found enough soil to gain a foothold - the only tree visible in the lava field.

Pine growing in lava bed

There were huge stands of wildfire killed trees in one long stretch of highway.  We were impressed by this stand of bleached-out pines from a fire in years past:

Coming around a curve brought Mt. Bachelor into view:

Mt. Bachelor

And finally, a view that made our day.  Suddenly coming into view was South Sister, beautiful with its covering of snow:

South Sister

We'll leave this trip report with a flashback to our winter site at Osprey Point RV Park.  Just before leaving for the year, the sunset put on this show to say goodbye:

Thanks for checking in on us - we'll be posting often as we work our way across Oregon so check back!