road trip     

Created in 1990 and managed by the U.S. Forest Service, this national monument area preserves 50,000 acres around Newberry Volcano in central Oregon. From the U.S Forest Service website: "The Newberry caldera stretches across 17 square miles in the heart of the volcano. The 1,200 square mile volcano (about the size of Rhode Island) remains very active to this day. Newberry is both seismically and geothermally active. Geologists believe the caldera sits over a shallow magma body only 2 to 5 kilometers deep." Newberry last erupted about 1,300 years ago. This is a photo of Lava Butte cinder cone, not the caldera itself. From the Forest Service: Estimated total volume of Newberry Volcano: 120 cubic miles (for example, Mount St. Helens is 6 cubic miles). Volume of Lava Butte cone and flow: Less than 1 cubic mile. In other words, if Newberry blows, we're screwed. But wait... the possibilities get even more interesting at Yellowstone!

Lots of trees that used to be...

Despite the apparent desolation and scorched trees, there is a lot of life here, in the unlikeliest places.

Sister Mountain in the background, another volcano.

The path through Mordor. And, I would say, one actually can walk into Mordor.