We are at Newberry National Volcanic Monument near LaPine OR and I am glad to be here now, not then!  There has been some serious volcanic activity along all of the Cascade Range but especially right here.  The final eruption of the Newbery Volcano left a caldera more than 5 miles across.  It is a beautiful rugged place.

Two clear deep lakes spread across the floor of the caldera. Cinder domes jut out of the pine covered landscape around and within the basin. Paulina Creek bubbles across the smooth and the jagged including an 80 foot drop in a graceful waterfall.

We walked on glass.   A mere 1300 years ago molten obsidian found a path to the surface.  On its journey from below some mixed with gases and ash, some entrained bubbles and some remained pure; all flowed at a snail’s pace across the earth cooling all the while.  The result, rock was twisted, bent, folded and fractured.  I know the science of material properties and the affects of heat but it is amazing to see it on this scale.

Even after over 1000 years it is a pretty inhospitable place. I marvel at the plants that call this place home.