Sleeping Giant

Yesterday Barbara and I spent a few hours exploring the interior of the largest volcano in the Cascade volcanic chain. Rising 4,000 feet above nearby Bend, Oregon the Newberry Caldera hides in plain sight. The Newberry Caldera is home to more than 400 volcanic vents and covers an area the size of the state of Rhode Island, approximately 1,200 square miles. The caldera itself contains several Hawaiian type lava flows, two lakes (Paulina Lake and East Lake) and the beautiful Paulina Falls. For those of you who enjoy exploring the great outdoors, you haven’t lived until you have explored the interior of an active volcano. As a geologist I have had the pleasure of exploring many of these giants as well as sleeping inside a few. While in college I got to climb to the top of Mount Saint Helens, post May 18, 1980 eruption. I have even had the pleasure of flying over the Kilauea volcano in a helicopter watching the lava churn below.