Today we headed towards the snow-capped "Sisters" peaks to our west. We drove through the quaint little town of Sisters and continued west on highway 242. The grassy fields gave way to impressive forests as we gained altitude.
The "Three Sisters" are host to 17 glaciers encompassing 2257 acres. They are the largest glacial area so far south in the US .
Suddenly, we came upon massive lava fields. At a scenic turnout. an informative sign acquainted us with the names of peaks and identified the distinctly different lava flows. We took a short hike from the road along the boundary line between the forest and the lava.
Belknap Crater, a shield volcano, looked luminous. It erupted 3,000, 2,900 and 1,500 years ago. It will not likely blow again.
It has a line of spatter cones on its northeast flank that blew just 1,330 years ago.
Fifteen miles further up the road, we stopped at the Dee Wright Observatory. Not the kind of observatory I usually visit with telescope domes. This was a place to observe the overlapping lava fields from the many now extinct volcanoes in the area.
The observatory was built by a CCC crew. It was completed in 1935 and named for the construction crew’s foreman who had died the previous year after serving 24 years as a Forest Service packer and crew foreman.
Carefully aligned portals in the observatory let one identify the visible peaks in every direction.
Each portal had a carved stone label that had not held up well with time.
North Sister, 6.6 miles away, is photobombed by Middle Sister, 7.7 miles away.
In some places, it was easy to visualize motion.
The forest is trying to reclaim the land covered in lava but it is a very slow process. If only we could look in again in another million years or so.
The lava fields spread out over 65 square miles and are among the youngest in this country.
We worked up a good appetite walking the trails that wound through the lava beds before we all agreed it was time for something to eat. Katie and Mike had explored Sisters before and recommended the Cottonwood Cafe. Very nice food with the best french fries (Garlic Truffle Fries) we had ever eaten!
We spent a few hours walking around the gorgeous little town of Sisters exploring some of the unique little arts and crafts galleries.
We completed our circuit of the town at a small bakery where we indulged in freshly made doughnuts and coffee before we headed home to Sam and Gray Man (Katie and Mike's cat).
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