Traveling south from eastern Washington, the skies filled with smoke from nearby wildfires, but one thing remained clear: the area was a hotbed of volcanic activity. You've likely heard of the Ring of Fire which encircles the moving tectonic plates of the Pacific Ocean. Within this ring are 452 active and dormant volcanoes, which accounts for nearly 75% of the world's volcanic activity, and about 90% of earthquakes. The west coast is full of opportunities to learn about, explore, and experience these forces of nature, so we made a few stops on the way south. Newberry National Volcanic Monument Ever heard of Newberry? Yeah, neither had we. Traveling south on 97 near Bend, Oregon, we were struck by the sudden lava bed of basalt boulders and a small cone volcano right next to the highway. We made a quick exit at the Lava Lands Visitor Center and met some engaging rangers who sold us on coming back later to explore. (We needed to get to our campground before they closed the gates and made us spend the night in the pizza shop parking lot. Literally--that's what they told us.) Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. Born some 500,000 years ago, its eruptions have covered 1,200 square miles and have produced over 400 volcanic vents and cinder cones (those perfect little cone volcanoes with the round vents on top) during its active periods. Much of the park centers around the five mile wide Newberry caldera, which includes lakes, hot springs, waterfalls, and obsidian flows. We drove an hour and 45 minutes north of our campground in hopes that the trip would be worth our time, and Newberry did not disappoint. We started our adventure at the park's youngest lava flow, the Big Obsidian Flow. This eruption occurred 1,300 years ago and produced a slow, 150-foot thick flow of lava. When the Ranger told us the flow was 10% obsidian, I didn't expect to find much. Boy, was I wrong! Native American tribes used to travel for days to stock up on a year's supply of obsidian for arrowheads and tools, but even with those stock piles removed, the boulders of shiny, black volcanic glass were scattered everywhere. (Fun facts: Surgical blades made of obsidian are sharper and allow for faster wound healing. More fun facts: Back in the 1960's, scientists from NASA came to the flow to extract water from rocks, in hopes of discovering a way to live on the moon.) Our kids have been dying to find a hot spring since we traveled to Iceland in 2017. Part of the draw to our visit to Newberry was real hot springs you could swim in, so we were sure to pack our suits and towels. The ranger told us it was a short 1.5 mile hike to get there. As it turns out, it was almost a three mile hike, and at about 2.7 miles in, a big clap of thunder rang through the mountain. Something we hadn't prepared for was a storm. But after hiking much further than we had anticipated, nothing was going to stop us from soaking in those springs! We continued on, found a copse of trees to change in, and rushed through the cold air to the hot springs, dodging raindrops along the way. Then... as soon as our bottoms hit water, it started to hail! Then hailed some more. Every time we thought it was going to let up, it started hailing harder. So, there we were, laying in this primitive, shallow gravel bed at the edge of Paulina Lake while small balls of ice pelted our skin like needles. We toughed it out for a good 15-20 minutes until it really let loose, followed by a louder clap of thunder that caused us to skedaddle real quick! After leaving the hot springs, we had the pleasure of walking over a nice bed of ice balls to change into our partially wet clothes and hike back! Ahh...the memories! Newberry is considered a National Monument and isn't advertised like the parks are, but is well worth a visit. It's still an active volcano and has nine United States Geological Survey monitoring stations to detect early and subtle signs of activity. The campground only has room for smaller RV's and tents, but is a peaceful area right on the lake. The obsidian flows are phenomenal, and worth the visit in themselves. Newberry can easily be paired with a trip to Crater Lake. I'm sure the hot springs are much more relaxing when it's not hailing, so always be sure to check the weather before you go! Crater Lake National Park Seven thousand, seven hundred years ago, Mt. Mazama (go ahead--say that out loud) stood 12,000 feet tall, but beneath its snow-capped peak, the earth was angry. Heat and pressure built up in a magma chamber below until an eruption 100 times the magnitude of the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens emptied its chamber, causing the summit to implode. Left behind was a caldera (not a crater, as you'll later find out in Part 2) averaging 5 miles wide. Over time, rain and snow fell into the caldera, creating the deepest lake in the United States at 1,943 feet deep. Since there are no inlets carrying sediment or pollution into Crater Lake, the water is actually cleaner and clearer than what comes out of your faucet at home. We stopped at Crater Lake in May 2019 during our west coast trip, but the winter snowfall still had the main visitor section under six feet of snow and most of Rim Road was impassable. During our first visit, we were absolutely awestruck by the beauty of the crystal blue lake, offset by the white snow all around. This trip was different given the slight haze leftover from wildfires nearby and wind that disturbed the smooth glass of the lake. Nevertheless, you can't visit Crater Lake without being wowed. We spent the day driving the 33-mile Rim Road, stopping at major overlooks, and taking lots of photos like good tourists do. We climbed Watchman Overlook for a view of Wizard Island, a cinder cone volcano that erupted out of the lake about 7,300 years ago. (Fun fact: three other cones have erupted under the lake, but don't reach the surface.) We spotted the Phantom Ship, an island that looks like a ship sailing away from the shore, and did an easy hike out to Plaikni Falls. We finished our visit with a hike down Cleetwood Cove Trail, the only lake access point in the park. Here, visitors can board tour boats (no longer running when we arrived), or go for a swim in one of the cleanest lakes in the world. We zigzagged down the steep, ashy path and were surprised when we got to the bottom. The access point was just a huge pile of boulders! We didn't find a spot to swim--it was too cold for that anyway--or even wade, really, so we each found a spot to stick our feet in the water just so we could say we did it! Crater Lake is certainly one of America's most beautiful locations. If you go, be sure to look for Old Man of the Lake. This vertically floating log was originally found floating in the lake in 1896. It's splintered white trunk sticks up about four feet out of the water. Peering down through the clear water, you can still see the roots below. But this tree isn't rooted in place; it floats--vertically, I remind you--through the lake and can be spotted in different locations each day. We didn't find out about this until the day after we arrived, so if you find it, we want photos!
We continued our adventures through the Ring of Fire as we traveled south to Lava Beds National Monument and Lassen Volcanic National Park. You can read about those stops in Part Two of We Fell In to a Burning Ring of Fire. Until then, I'm curious, what areas with volcanic activity have you been to, and what (or where) surprised you the most?
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