June 29 - East Lake, Obsidian and Fort Rock

I woke up to a lovely sunrise over the lake – I could view this scene from my pillow! We got moving quickly so that we could do some sightseeing before packing up. Out first stop was Paulina Peak. We got a view of the caldera, both lakes and the obsidian flow. We also had an expansive 3600 view. We could see Mt Adams in Washington, Mt Hood, and the rest of the Cascade Range as it extended south to California. Looking east, Central Oregon seemed to stretch on forever. We then explored Paulina Falls. The only surface water outlet for Paulina Lake. East Lake has on outlet. Our next stop was an obsidian/pumice flow. It was huge! It is so recent there was almost no vegetation to be seen. Only a few trees had taken root on the rock – it is a wonder how they survive. We found some snow in some of the pumice hollows. The obsidian is really smooth but sharp along its edges. I did not know, but obsidian is sharpened into blades and used in surgery. It can be sharpened to a smoother edge than steel. We were sad to leave our wonderful site next to the lake but our next site turned out to be great as well. After setting up and a quick lunch we drove down to Fort Rock. A volcanic remnant ‘floating’ in an expansive flat valley. The caldera was once surrounded by water, and wave action has cut shear cliffs all round. Rocky’s paws suffered on the hot rock and sand. We encountered a cool breeze from the top of the caldera. We returned to Bend to have dinner with Steve and family. We had a great time and enjoyed a twilight outing to a cinder cone nearby. We also had a visit to Barnes and Noble to get Ant the next few books in the series he is reading. All 3 boys read books on our drive back to the camper – what silence.