Until we’d visited Crater Lake, I hadn’t appreciated what a geological hot spot Oregon was and still is. Granted, I knew that Crater Lake was formed by a massive volcanic explosion, but that was almost 8000 years ago. What I didn’t realize was the earth here was still shifting, settling, venting gases, and occassionally erupting and had been doing so intermittently for centuries. This geological activity gives Oregon some diverse natural wonders to explore.
All the up and down hiking at Crater Lake had taken a toll on our knees so the thought of soaking our aching joints in a natural hot spring sounded heavenly. There were several hot springs in the area, compliments of Mother Earth’s geothermic activity, so we drove about 45 mins southwest of our cabin to Umpaqua Springs. Our trail app informed us that to reach the springs we’d have to hike a little over a half mile on a moderately difficult trail (oh no, this meant more up and down). We parked in a small clearing in the woods, packed with vans and people who appeared to be camping despite signs to the contrary. The place had a sketchy feeling but we were just here to find the trailhead. Donning our bathing suits and hiking boots, we crossed a grafetti covered bridge over the North Umpaqua River and began hiking down a steep narrow path intertwined with large tree roots, only to reach a fork that took us back uphill towards the springs.
As we reached the top, we saw a small piece of wood tacked to a tree, hand lettered, informing us that bathing suits were optional. Momentarily taken aback because our trail app specifically stated that nudity was not allowed, we knew we would be in for an interesting afternoon!
The hot springs are actually a series of terraced pools on the cliffside above the North Umpaqua River formed as hot mineral water emerges from the rockface. The upper pool is the hottest, close to 115 degrees with each of the seven pools down the terrace becoming slightly cooler. The pool bottoms are rocky sendiment, not kind to the feet, and unfortunately we did not have water shoes. Moving between pools was also difficult because of slippery rocks and gravel. Consequently, we only soaked in the top two pools and did not venture down to the river.
Nonetheless, the people-watching from the top as we luxuriated in the warm water was engaging. Although most people had some semblence of clothing, two European women sporting leg and thigh tatoos chose to go au naturel.
Likewise, a well endowed young man meandered with his dog among the pools. We envied those with either hardened feet or water shoes who moved from pool to pool down to the river. Even getting out of the pool hurt our feet. After absorbing as much heat as we could tolerate, we dried, rebooted and hiked in our wet bathing suits back to the car.
Enroute to Bend, we stopped to visit another geographical hot spot, the Newberry National Volcanic Monument, a tract of land located within Deschutes National Forest around the Newberry Volcano. Newberry is the largest volcano in the Cascade Mountains, covering an area about the size of Rhode Island and although it last erupted 1300 years ago, it is still considered active with hundreds of vents, many still releasing gases and water vapor.
We took a park shuttle up to Lava Butte. The butte was formed thousands of years ago as lava exploded out of the ground when Newberry erupted. Gas charged lava was ejected into the air, eventually cooling and falling to earth, piling up to form a cone. Lava Butte is not really solid, but is a big pile of cinders and basaltic rock. We hiked around the rim, looking down into the crater that still contained fragments of hardened lava.
Up at 5000 ft, we also had a panoramic view of other snow capped volcanoes in the Cascade Mountain range. Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and the Three Sisters, visible in the distance, have not erupted for thousands of years and geologists consider them dormant. Today, they are popular with skiers and snowboarders.
After a loop around the crater, we shuttled down from Lava Butte to the park’s visitor center. From there we hiked a short interpretive trail, aptly named the Trail of Molten Land, that loops across a basalt lava flow for about mile to the base of Lava Butte. All around us were piles of hardened lava. Although the rocks looked like they should be heavy, they were actually light and porous. Growing out of the rocks was a variety of desert vegetation. These are xeric plants, the hardiest survivors of the plant world that can adapt and thrive in harsh, dry conditions with little water or soil. Their wispy fan-like foliage in varying shades of yellow, gold, green and grey contrast with the black lava and create a starkly beautiful landscape.
Our next hot spot was a hike through a lava tube; I use the word hike loosely, as we spent most of the time crawling on our hands and knees. We’d booked an afternoon tour with an outfitter to explore this interesting remnant of an erupting volcano. We drove a short distance outside the town of Bend to what looked like a corn field. Donning hard hats and headlamps we descended a set of stairs that led us to an underground cavern. Immediately, we switched on our headlamps. It was cool and dank. We were in the lava tube.
Initially, the tube had a cavelike feel but as we began walking, the passageway began to resemble a cylinder. Instead of stalagmites and stalagtites, we were surrounded by walls of bumpy, black basalt, similar to the hardened lava we’d hiked though at the volcanic monument.
Lava tubes are an interesting byproduct created by erupting volcanoes. They form when lava flows from a volcanic vent and moves beneath the surface of an already hardened lava flow. The molten lava is extremely hot – 1300 to 2000 deg F, and as it flows it melts a cylindrical pathway through the basalt. Once cooled, tubes become relatively stable in temperature, providing homes for insects, rodents, owls and bats, anchors for tree roots and of course, spaces to explore for adventurous humans!
As we continued hiking, the tube narrowed, ultimately forcing us to continue forward on hands and knees. The basalt surface was jagged and sharp and I wished I had gloves to protect my hands. Despite pant legs, my knees were also feeling every sharp edge of the rocks we were crawling over.
Near the end of the tube, we manuevered around large chunks of basalt that had collapsed, at times contorting our bodies to squeeze through cracks and crevices. It was exhausting work and I was thankful for the helmet as I banged my head on yet another rocky ledge. Finally we reached the end of the tube, a jumble of rocks and a wall of solid lava so we turned around and recontorted and recrawled our ‘steps’. I was ecstatic we we finally reached the part of the tube where we could walk upright. Overall, this was a cool experience although I could have passed on the body contortions!
After an afternoon of crawling on hands and knees, scrambling over and under rocks and bumping my helmet, I was ready for a more civilized pursuit. We were spending the night in Bend so walked to the Mill District, a popular outdoor mall on the Deschutes River. Formerly an old lumber mill, the historic buildings have been converted to shops, restaurants and cafes. We heard music as we neared and discovered that a band was playing at an open air concert venue across the river. We found a restaurant with a patio on the river to dine and enjoy the concert. The river was crowded with kayakers and paddleboarders, some with dogs, some with coolers and picnic hampers, staking out a spot to also enjoy the music. and glorious sunset.
Enroute back to Portland, we stopped to visit Mt. Hood, our final geological hot spot. It’s hard to think of Mt. Hood as a hot spot – after all, even in July, patches of dirty white snow still blanket the sides of this 11,239 ft peak and some skiing enthusiasists are still eeking out the final runs of the season. But this magnificant mountain is still considered an active volcano. Mt. Hood last erupted in the 1790s with minor explosive activity occuring through the middle of the next century, but today remains quiet. Geologists believe this volcano will become active again in future as it still occassionally produces minor earthquakes and belches steam and gases.
But today the mountain is quiet and majestic, its lower flanks covered in lush green vegetation and bursts of purple, yellow and white wildflowers. Copses of tall pines surround its base.
We lunched at the historic Timberline Lodge, a beautiful wooden hotel and restaurant built between 1936-8 as a part of FDR’s public works program. Planters of colorful petunias lined the outdoor patio walls and porch, adding a burst of color to the grey building. From the large dining room window, we watched hikers and tourist milling about and noticed that a chairlift was taking people up the mountainside.
After lunch, we found the path leading to the chairlift and rode it a few thousand feet up the side of Mt. Hood. We were able to get off the chair and walk around, avoiding the large patches of snow to savor the view.
It was windy and overcast, with limited visibility but we could still see peak after peak in the distance. The Cascades are a magnificant range of over 400 mountains and volocanoes traversing the entire state of Oregon with their origins in southern British Columbia and endpoint in Northern Calirfornia. The mountains before us looked layered, each layer a different shade of blue. Tucked in the valley below, was a small lake surrounded by pines.
A bit wind whipped, we took the chairlift down to the lodge, then drove back to Portland to spend another night with our daughter before heading home. Oregon proved to be a worthy ‘hot spot’ and I look forward to a future visit to this beautiful, geographically diverse state!
July, 2023