Friday, July 10- Lava Tubes and Crater Lake

This morning we left Madras and headed down Hwy 97 towards Crater Lake. We noticed a park on the map called Newberry Volcanic National Monument and decided to stop and check it out. This park was designated in 1990 and includes 50,000 acres of lakes, lava flows and geologic features. When we entered the park we saw that a shuttle ran every 20 minutes to Lava Butte. While we were in the visitors center they announced that a thunder and lightening storm in the area made it impossible to take the trip to the top of the butte so we opted for the 2 mile hike into the lava river cave. This was more difficult than you would think as there were no lights so we had to rent flashlights and it was also a little slippery at the mouth of the lava tube but we rose to the challenge.

The entrance

The end of the lava tube, only a mile to get back out

 leaving the Lava park we drove through a torrential rain storm before getting to Crater . All I can say is WOW!  I will let my photos speak for themselves. Tomorrow we hike down to the lake for a boat ride on the lake.

A life bird, Clark's Nutcracker

Barb feeding the wildlife