Newberry National Volcanic Monument Oregon

Journey to a Land of Water Wind and Fire

Part D: Newberry National Volcanic Monument

A Peak Experience

Early the next day we met up with J. and headed back down Rt. 97 (it was better this morning), to the Paulina Peak area of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument. J. had talked a lot about this area being a “High Desert.” But somehow it did not look like a desert to me, there was an awful lot of water, and trees as well. Then he told me the moisture that does come, comes in the winter (I bet right about the time this is being posted) in the way of snow. Ah, that made sense.

We turned off of 97 after about 8-10 miles and headed east towards the Paulina Peak area of the Monument. I knew that this whole area was another caldera, just as Crater Lake had been a caldera. But this caldera turned out to be vastly different.

How different from Crater Lake became obvious as we reached the “rim” of the caldera. A sign beckoned us to turn off to the left for the Paulina Falls.

According to the rangers at Crater Lake, Crater Lake has no inlet or outlet. Water that falls into Crater Lake, largely in the form of snow, stays in Crater Lake, except for some evaporation, and leakage into the groundwater system. There is one falls, Vidae Falls, and a couple of springs fed by groundwater but they are not considered direct outlets from the lake.

But things were different at the Paulina Peak caldera! For these falls are the result of water was flowing out of Paulina Lake which is within the caldera. And even on this day, during August, the dry season, the water was flowing freely. And from the "trash" left behind, it was obvious in the spring the flow is much greater. Suffice it to say the water doesn't stay in this caldera.

Leaving the falls, we re-entered the main road into the caldera, went a ways, and then turned right and climbed the steep dirt road up to the top of Paulina Peak. I must say, the drive to the top on this road reminded me of the day A. and I drove to the top of Spruce Knob WV (the tallest mountain in WV). But unlike Spruce Knob, where we were at 4,863 feet, here at Paulina Peak we were much higher. “How much higher?” You may ask. This much higher:

Well, needless to say, I climbed up to the very topmost rock and looked around in the Caldera.

First, I saw a lake (I actually saw two, but I got a better shot of the first one, Paulina Lake):
And then I shifted my gaze eastward where I saw this mass of blackish looking rock, looking ever-so-much as if someone had taken a load of dark gravel and just dumped it on the floor of the caldera.