It’s easy to forget that we have taken up residence amidst volcanoes.
Truth is, Oregon was sculpted by a series of geological eruptions that started more than eight million years ago, which ultimately resulted in what is now the Cascade Range.
In the last 500 thousand years volcanic activity pushed up the high cascades giving us mountains like Hood, Jefferson, and perhaps the most famous, Mazama, which is a lake (caldera) rather than a mountain.
All this unrest, magma and ash left it’s mark on the landscape.. Rugged peaks stripped moisture from ocean-born storms onto the lush forests on it’s western slopes, and left the eastside of the range as arid sage steppes.
This week, before they close it off for the winter, we took a trip down the Cascade Lakes Highway’s southern stretch.
Starting just below Wickiup Reservoir to the northern edge of Crater Lake National Park. It’s a geological smorgasbord.
A favorite stop is Davis Lake and Lava Flow campground. This shallow body of water (averages about 9 feet), was formed when a lava eruption dammed up Odell Creek.
A massive wall of volcanic material extending north from the lake serves as evidence of this event.
Odell creek doesn’t supply enough water, especially during the summer months, to make up for the lake’s drainage via it’s porous volcanic bottom.
By this time of the year the lake bed is mostly dry, cracked mud surrounded by pine forest.
The campground is usually empty this time of year making it the perfect place to stretch our legs, have some lunch and shoot some pictures.