We visited three very unusual and unique features in this area today. The first was Lava Butte, a cinder cone. When the Newberry volcano area was active, this cinder cone blew up sending cinder bits all over and left a depression. There is a trail around the cone from which the following pictures were taken. At the highest spot on the cone they built a ranger lookout station for fire watch. Note that the cinders were red, due to the high iron content.
The second feature we explored was a Lava Forest. In this area, molten lava came into a forest of trees and encased the tree. Of course it incinerated the trees, but left these columns or tubes depending on whether the tree was standing or had fallen. The pattern inside these columns reflect the texture of the bark. The area is huge and looks so god forsaken, you wonder how things can be growing in here.
The first couple of pictures show the overall area.
This picture is where a tree was standing when the lava flowed in.
This is a tree that was down. Parts of the tube have cracked and fallen in.
The lava runs in excess of 2000F, so the trees are vaporized. The energy, devastation, and shear size of this area really put the earth's forces into perspective.
The third feature we visited was the Lava Cave. This is really a lava tube, like a paper roll tube. It was formed by a river of lava where the upper and side sections cooled while the lava inside remained hot enough to continue flowing. It left a hollow tube. They are not that uncommon in volcanic areas. There are over 500 of these tubes in the volcanic areas in central Oregon.
This one is essentially a cave that starts out about 50 feet in diameter and about a mile later is only about 4 feet in diameter. Over time there are areas where some of the ceiling has fallen to the floor. Water also runs through carrying sand that covers the bottom to several feet in depth. You cannot traverse this cave to the end of the tube because it is crawl space size at the end. The first picture shows the entrance, which was at the bottom of a sinkhole.
This picture is hard to figure out, but it is looking up at the top of the tube. The cave has no lights. Either you bring flashlights or rent a lantern. The inside of a cave defines darkness; you literally cannot see your hand in front of your face. So, it was tough getting pictures, however even with a flashlight that ceiling is black. The contour up there is round like the top of a tube.
This last picture shows the side of the tube. Note the difference in texture, it shows the flow marks of the river in the lower half and the rougher texture as the top of the tube cooled at a different rate. We found this whole thing pretty fascinating.
Tomorrow we leave Oregon heading east on our way home. We will probably make a stop or two along the way. If we have WiFi we'll keep you updated. We are hoping to make Boise tomorrow and camp Wal-Mart. It has been an interesting adventure and we have enjoyed sharing it with you.
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