Lava Butte, Oregon

On our way to Crater Lake, we stopped at the Lava fields at the base of Lava Butte and took the road up to the summit of the cinder cone.  The lava fields and cinder cones south of Bend are part of a complex that is associated with Newberry Volcano - the largest Volcano in Oregon and a potentially active caldera south of Lava Butte with significant eruptions just 1300 years ago.  The lavas near Lava Butte erupted from a vent near the summit about 7000 years ago, not long after the Mount Mazama collapse that formed the caldera that we now call Crater Lake.  The Newberry Volcano suffered an even larger event like that which formed Crater Lake about 80,000 years ago.

This panorama was taken at a pullout near the base of the cinder cone along the road that winds up Lava Butte to the lookout at its summit near the edge of the lava flow.  This was assembled with the Hugin Panorama software from 4 images taken with my 18-250mm lens at 18mm focal length and exposures of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400. Slight adjustments were made in the GIMP after assembly.

Looking across the summit crater on top of Lava Butte from the fire lookout shows distant lava fields.  The lookout sits at the tallest point on the cinder cone.  This image was taken at 18mm focal length with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

From the south side of the summit crater on Lava Butte, you can see the lava flows next to the highway.  In the distance, the large gentle rise in the horizon is the Newberry Volcano.  Before its catastrophic collapse 80,000 years ago, it was probably quite a bit taller.  The Newberry Volcano is the center of the activity that includes this cinder cone and lava field.  This image was taken at 22mm focal length with an exposure of 1/250 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

From the south side of the summit crater you can see the fire lookout and also see how steep the inner slopes of the crater are.  This cinder cone was last active about 7000 years ago.  This image was taken at 22mm focal length with an exposure of 1/400 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

A better view of the lookout from the same area as the previous image, this time with my zoom set to 183mm focal length and an expsoure of 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400.

A view of the lava along the rim of the summit crater.  The exposure was 1/320 seconds at f/11, ISO 400 at 18mm focal length.

The source of the youngest lava flow visible in the middle distance was just below the summit crater just left of this image.  The lava flow dates to about 7000 years.  This image was taken at 1/500 seconds at f/11, ISO 400 and 18mm focal length.

The lone tree on top of Inferno Cone - take II

You can see the lone tree on top of Inferno Cone in this view from the loop road heading back to the entrance area of Craters of the Moon National Monument.  You can also see the shoulder on the right flank of Inferno Cone that fools climbers into thinking they've got a short hike to the summit ahead of them. This image was taken with my 24mm lens and an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Hiking among the lava flows

Our group, led by Craters of the Moon park ranger Rebecca, hikes along the trail at the base of Broken Top cinder cone with Pahoehoe lava flows to their left. This image was taken with my 24mm lens and an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

This panorama shows the lava flows between Broken Top cinder cone (behind the photographer) and Big Cinder Butte at the left in this pan.  This image was built from 7 frames taken with my 24mm lens on my 20D.

This is a Pahoehoe flow along the trail.  You can see a bluish tint to some of the surface layer.  The image was obtained with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

The section of this Pahoehoe lava was pushed up after it cooled so that you can see the layering inside.  This image was taken with my 24mm lens and an exposure of 1/160 seconds at f/8, ISO 100.

Lava and cinder everywhere

These three shots show some of the variety in the lava fields around the base of Broken Top cinder cone at Craters of the Moon National Monument.  The first image shows a tilted layer of lava with a coating of cinder.  The last image shows some Pahoehoe lava flows.  The area is littered with debris from nearby spatter cones.  All the images were taken with a 24mm lens on my 20D, the first two with exposures of 1/2000 seconds at f/5 and the last 1/1250 seconds at f/5, all at ISO 400.

Broken Top lava flow panorama, Craters of the Moon National Monument

This partial panorama is from 8 images taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/2500 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.  This image looks over The Broken Top lava flow from the side of Broken Top cinder cone along the loop trail at the Big Sink Overlook.  The view is generally towards the north with a complex of cinder cones on the left including Inferno Cone, Snow Cone and Spatter Cones.

The lone tree on top of Inferno Cone

Just before sunset, we hiked up Inferno Cone, a cinder cone near the center of Craters of the Moon.  The trail heads straight up the side of the cinder cone and looks short - until you get to the shoulder in the hill about halfway up.  There is a great view of the area from the summit, which is in the red rocks where I stood to take this image.  This lone tree is visible on top of this cinder cone from all over the park.  There are some trees below it on the hillside and some remains of other similar trees on the summit, but it is the only one presently on top.  This image was taken with my 24mm lens with an exposure of 1/200 seconds at f/5, ISO 400.