July 17: Newberry Caldera Big Obsidian Flow

Today we walked on the rim of the crater of the Newberry Volcano. 

Click on photo to enlarge to read

The Big Obsidian Flow is a patch of black and grey volcanic glass covering about 4 square miles of the Newberry Crater floor .
When the volcano erupted 1300 years ago, the rocks it produced were volcanic silica and obsidian. Both of these rock components are very sharp and are used for making glass, weapons and other instruments.

Large boulders of obsidian

A view of the path we hiked.

Obsidian and Silica Rock

We walked up one side of the volcano rim to the top.  The pathways and the hillside were large boulders and small rocks all of which were the obsidian.  It was a great hike and the views were awesome.






Here we are sitting at the top of the world.

We had planned to drive to the top of Paulina Peak.
The road still had 3' snow.

After our big hike, we had lunch at East Lake.

The birds watched and waited
for us to share lunch.