It looks like it's time for us to head south. This morning the Cascade Mountains received their first powdering of snow. The temperatures are cooling down, the high today was 45. That's cold to one who has always lived in Texas. :)
We spent of lot of time this last week at the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.
We made a hike to the Paulina Falls, a picturesque 80 foot cascading falls.
Our next stop,
This was really impressive. There is a one mile loop trail exploring Oregon's youngest lava flow. First there is a steep set of stairs to climb,
and then, there is this view. The magnitude of the lava flow just can't be pictured in a photo. It went on almost as far as you could see.
There were lots of black, shiny obsidian rocks everywhere.
The trail crossed back and forth over the rocky, uneven surface of the Big Obsidian Flow. We reached the top and were rewarded with this view of Paulina Lake.
Next, we drove to the top of Paulina Peak. There is a 3 1/2 mile road taking you to the summit of Paulina Peak, 7,984 feet. From the top, you can view into the Newberry Caldera.
That's Paulina Lake below.
We visited Benham Falls which has a beautiful 1 mile walking trail leading up to the cascading falls.
There was also
There is a one mile self guided trail that winds across a 7,000 year old Newberry Volcano basalt lava flow.
As the lava flowed, it enveloped a mature forest taking the shape of the trees as it cooled. This is just one of the many casts seen throughout the trail.
We also ventured in to the city of Bend a couple of times. One day we drove to the top of Pilot Butte with amazing views of the city below. There is also a hiking trail you can take from the bottom up to the top.
We have really enjoyed our time in Bend. It was a relaxing time with a good mix of activities and downtime.
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