Craters, Calderas, Obsidian, Lava and Volcano Tops Plus a Trip to Bend, OR

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August 13, 2013 Tuesday

Wow, 37 degrees last night, right chilly this morning. Left the campground to see Lava Butte, a cinder cone volcano in Lava Lands. We drove up to the top and could look down into the caldera and were able to walk around the caldera, very interesting to do that, quite a drop down into it. Only 8 cars at a time are given limited access to the top and a time of ½ hour at the top.

Then drove to Bend to try and see Bob and Mary Nelson’s granddaughter. She works in the Old Mill, an absolutely beautiful shopping development with the Deschutes River running by, covered today with standing surfers, tubers and kayakers. See Blog Pics. We located ‘Hannah’ where she’s a Manager at Vanilla Urban Threads. What a delightful young girl! One of her co-workers went outside with us and took our picture with her for her family to see here on the Blog and on Facebook.

Time for lunch at the Red Robin – yummy grilled chicken, freckled fruit salad, zucchini stix and mushroom burger. We walked around the shops a bit and then gave in to our sweet tooth/teeth? lol Had a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cone. Off to a quick stop for a couple of groceries and then to the Newberry Volcano – two Calderas in the one volcano. Quite a drive to the very top at 7984’ on a real bad gravel road. 12 , miles took about ½ an hour. But it was worth it for the breathtaking, 360 degree view. We could see the two Calderas, now lakes – Lake Paulina and the East Lake; 249’ deep and 185’ deep, respectively. The temperature was a beautiful 71 degrees up there. Smoke from the Oregon forest fires proved to be obstructive to viewing and pics, but we did our best. We could also see the Big Obsidian Flow; this youngest lava flow holds over 170 million cubic yards of Obsidian and Pumice from a vent in the Caldera.

Home to a latte and some relaxing before getting ready to leave for Idaho tomorrow.

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Comments

[Bill]

Nice
This is a good picture. Looks like an advert. for Dodge trucks!

[Sis]

Beauty indeed...
A better title would be \"Hot Air and Beauty\" heehee... The scenery just keeps getting beautifuller and beautifuller...