Forged by Vulcan | Part 4, Volcanic Moonscape

August 4: The Early Bird Catches the Waterfall

Cascading over a dramatic 97-foot drop, the lovely Tumalo Falls awaits visitors 14 miles west of Bend. A popular destination, we rose early to beat the crowd. We enjoyed a truly satisfying breakfast at the McKay Cottage Restaurant (this Bend mainstay is a gem) before hurrying westbound to the falls. Parking access requires a $5 day pass that we purchased a day earlier from the Bend REI.

We were not early enough to get a parking spot at the base of the falls, but we were early enough to park near the parking at the base of the falls. We took that as a win. Considering the line of dusty vehicles still crawling their way up the gravel road toward the falls, our timing was nevertheless excellent.

Though it is not quite half the height of New York's Taughannock Falls, the sight of water plummeting over a large drop of such narrow span recalled that natural wonder from closer to home. 

A short hike brings visitors to the top of the falls that tumble into an impressive gorge.

Photo by random bystander.

The Bear never could resist rocks in a waterway, Tumalo Creek or otherwise. It's good to know that some things never change.

Not to be Confused with an Award for Excellence in Children's Literature

Also within the Deschutes National Forest and south of Bend is the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. It is named for the still active (though not recently erupted) Newberry Volcano whose caldera is 35 miles southeast of Bend. Between Bend and Sunriver, Lava Butte rises above the landscape, a cinder cone subfeature of the overall Newberry network that last erupted 7,000 years ago and poured lava across an expansive area. The lava field hosted astronauts in training when NASA identified it as an Earthly mimic for the lunar surface. Access to the lava field was granted by the same $5 day pass that we used at Tumalo Falls that morning, which is why we bundled these two excursions together.

The Lava Butte cinder cone (background) is surrounded by acres of jagged, black basalt (foreground).

While perhaps not representative of the lunar surface (definitely lacking in copious amounts of dust), it presents an undeniably dead, otherworldly terrain, especially when framed by contrasting terrestrial foliage.

During a presentation at the Visitor Center, The Bear and I both got examples of basalt with different morphologies. (Temporarily. We had to give them back.)

Exploration of the lava field is facilitated with a paved pathway. I suspect that the astronauts were not allowed to use this.

"Hi! We're on another planet!" (Not really.)

It is striking to me that life so often finds a way. It is also striking to me that, having gotten this far, something caused this tree to give up.

Beyond the lava field, Ponderosa Pines cover the landscape with green up to the slopes of the Cascades. Pictured here is Mount Bachelor (so-named because it's a solo monadnock?), rising to an elevation of 9,068 feet.

From left to right in this photo are South Sister, Broken Top, and Middle Sister. North Sister is out of frame to the right. The tallest, South Sister, rises to 10,363 feet elevation.

People conveniently provided for scale.

Successfully clinging to life.

Lava balls are an analog to snowballs, which makes for an interesting twist on the "snowball's chance in hell" idiom. A nearby plaque proclaims, "Great balls of fire!" Literally. Do these terrain features remind anyone else of the Horta? (Not the Mediterranean dish, the critter from Star Trek.)

Some subspecies of troll are partial to lava tubes.

Where the lava field ends, the Ponderosa Pine takes back over. The boundary is striking!

At some point during its eruption 7,000 years ago, a vent opened in the side of Lava Butte and this line of lava simply poured out. This could almost be an action photo if the lava had not long ago cooled into basalt.

A last look at the magnificent lava field of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument highlighting another example of life that once painfully struggled for existence there. The lava field was unlike anything I have ever seen in my life.

Set Phasers to Splinter

That afternoon, while the rest of my family recuperated from exploring the moonscape and obtained paddleboards from LOGE, I returned to the trails behind our lodging. Along the way, I found this interesting artifact that looked like a frontier version of a Star Trek phaser.

Photo by Kristy.

The Bear and I ventured down the Deschutes River on Atoll paddleboards obtained from LOGE. I was impressed with the gear. The boards were inflatable, yet remarkably rigid. Each was packaged in a large, well-balanced backpack containing an air pump. I was still under the restriction to avoid sunlight, so I felt rather overdressed on the river. I was honestly surprised by the strength of the Deschutes River current and toiled upstream for a while before letting the current return me to where we entered the water. The Bear traveled further downstream into the Old Mill District and we intercepted her just upstream of the white water rapids.

That night, we met a friend of mine and his wife for dinner at Zydeco Kitchen. It was our only excursion to downtown Bend, but the town was charming and our meals were excellent. Thanks to Sam for a great recommendation and a fun night out!

August 5: Bookends

We concluded our stay in Bend on August 5. After enjoying another very satisfying breakfast at the McKay Cottage, we returned to Pilot Butte for a last hike to the summit before starting the drive back toward Portland. Thus, Pilot Butte bookended our time in Bend.

Kristy decided to sit this one out, but The Bear was ready to go.

The character of the trail changed significantly since our arrival a few days prior. What was once covered with fine grey dust was now washed clean by the severe thunderstorms that blew through that week, revealing the trail's red-tinged basalt underpinnings. Extensive signs of new erosion were evident. On our first visit on Day 1, I wondered at the lack of erosion abatement like I usually see on New York trails, but now I think I understand how truly rare significant rainfalls are in the aptly named high desert.

In the near distance, the distinctive conical profile of Lava Butte was visible on the horizon.

Eastern faces of the Cascade Mountains from the top of Pilot Butte provided the setting for this last image of The Bear in Bend, OR. Overall, I liked Bend. It seemed like it would be a great place to live, especially for anyone who appreciates outdoor adventures. I think its isolation from other places (i.e., Portland is four hours away by car) would get to me after a while, though.

Next, we followed US-20 westbound through Sisters, then OR-22 through Detroit (!) and Salem, winding through the Cascades until reaching the Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum in McMinnville, OR. The content of the next installment of this series will be more thematically consistent with the content of this blog!