volcano « the road to experience

It has been a while since my last post. During that time we enjoyed our first extended vacation between work assignments. We saw some amazing places and spent close to three weeks back home, enjoying the company of our family and friends. It was great to see everyone. It is our hope to maintain these cherished relationships we have. It is the hardest part of our new lifestyle; being so far away from the people we love so much. We are now back in Oregon and have settled into our new home, a 5th wheel! We are loving it so far. It is cozy and comfortable. We will be leaving the Rogue Valley next week and heading to the central coast for the next chapter of our adventure. I will begin an assignment in the town of Florence, though we plan to park the 5th wheel inland in the town of Mapleton. I expect it to take some time to get caught up with photos and posts, but will do my best to share our adventure in a timely manner.

Our first stop on the road was in central Oregon, southeast of Bend at Newberry Volcanic National Monument. You may remember this place from a previous post. The Monument has three sections, with one we have still yet to explore. We tent camped 2 nights at Paulina Lake inside the monument. We just so happened to be here during a lunar eclipse/super-moon, which we had the privilege to experience from Paulina peek (elevation7,984 ft). The view of the 4×5 mile wide Newberry Caldera is breathtaking. Within the Caldera lies two lakes; Paulina Lake and East Lake, which are separated by a central pumice cone. Big Obsidian Flow, the youngest lava flow in Oregon, lies within the caldera as well. It was cold here, with water freezing overnight. The pro to this: we had the campground almost entirely to ourselves, which allows you to enjoy the serenity of the environment.

As I write this, we have finished our assignments in Grants Pass. We have had friends and family visit over the past few weeks and have had a great time showing them the beautiful land and water that have surrounded us over the past 6 months. It’s wild looking back at the things we have done, the things we have seen, and the experiences we have had so far this year. And now, we are about to begin another chapter. We have purchased a 5th wheel trailer (which is currently in storage) and will move in to it in November. But first, we will spend 3 weeks traveling through Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico before we return to Memphis to visit family and friends. We plan to tent camp at the Grand Canyon and Death Valley on our return to Oregon in November. We have reservations at a RV park for a month in Grants Pass; to allow us to get situated in the trailer and look for work if we do not already have assignments arranged by then. We are looking forward to the next chapter in this adventure.

Back to Lassen; Lassen is a park I have wanted to visit for years and knew I would kick myself if we didn’t make it there while living less than 4 hours away. We made it there the last weekend of August. It is a beautiful place, with high mountain peaks, beautiful lakes, geothermal areas, lava flows, cinder cones, and painted dunes. All four types of volcanoes are represented at Lassen; composite, shield, cinder cone, and plug dome. Lassen is the southernmost peak in the Cascades Volcanic Arc, which forms a section of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

We have visited many volcanic areas over the years since my infatuation with volcanoes began in Hawaii in 2009. There are elements of volcanic landscapes that are familiar, but each has it’s own character. Volcanic lands inspire wonder and a healthy appreciation of the awesome power of nature. I doubt I will ever tire of visiting them. There is a sense of humility that I feel while standing on a volcano; a realization of the power that lies beneath my feet, the power that shaped the landscape around me. Also, an admiration of the beauty that has emerged from destruction and an appreciation of time. So often we forget how short the human life is, compared to the Earth, which has endured changes for billions of years.

the road to experience

Tag Archives: volcano

Newberry Volcanic National Monument – Paulina Lake Area

Lassen Volcanic National Park