Central Oregon Observations

Central Oregon presents a fabulous variety of landscapes, scenery, and vegetation.  Near the Cascades, dense forests and fine lakes abound.  In the highway 97 corridor around Bend and Sunriver, a mix of pine and sage prevails.  Farther east, it's high desert country with vast open lands dotted with sage and juniper.  Here, at Sunriver, the Deschutes River glides under a bridge on a pleasant summer morning.

The weather in Central Oregon is more continental than west of the Cascades.  Large cumulus buildups like this one at Sunriver add some drama to the land.

Central Oregon is a very interesting place, geologically speaking.  This is Lava Cast Forest, only about 12 miles SE of Sunriver.  Six thousand years ago, a'a lava rolled across the countryside.  It partially buried pine trees similar to those that grow here  today.  When the pine wood burned away and the lava cooled, tree molds were left in the hardened a'a.

Due to the cool, dry climate, the lava flow looks much more recent than it is; there's still not much vegetation in parts of it.  But hardy fireweed ekes out an existence.

I saw a lot of dead twisty trees among the lava.

Somehow, the sage also thrives among the rocks.

This cool ponderosa pine is growing in a kipuka, an area of vegetation surrounded by the lava flow but untouched by it.  Kipukas are neat places.  You can look out on the barren landscape from a shady oasis.

The Lizards are hanging out on the edge of what I believe is a tree mold.  The lava knocked over the tree as it hit it, then cooled rapidly.  When the wood burned or eroded away, a tunnel was left.  It's similar in appearance to a small short lava tube.

Had to throw in a pic of ponderosa bark.  These are fairly old trees; the bark is a dark brown until the tree is about a hundred years old, then it assumes the fine cinnamon hue.