Newberry Volcano

We drove south to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument in the Deschutes National Forest this morning. It’s near the city of Bend. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newberry_Volcano

It’s an awe inspiring place of intense and raw beauty. The volcano last erupted 1300 years ago and there are literally miles of lava flow, which you can see in the foreground. The volcano itself is that mound in the background. Unfortunately the park is closed for the winter, although the interpretive walk through the lava field is open. So we couldn’t drive up to see the caldera.

You can see a lonely pine growing in the lava. In the warmer months there are quite a few plants that grow amongst the lava. I believe the tawny colored plant on the foreground s is silver sage…or something like it.