Geo 365: July 13, Day 194: More Folded Flournoy

Last Saturday, I showed a view of these same contorted rocks looking across the Umpqua River. Today, we see them looking across the Garden Valley Highway. Despite its position on a convergent plate boundary, it's surprisingly difficult to find outcrop-scale folding in western Oregon. This particular spot is not well understood, but it is a fun variation on the typical gentle dips we see around here. Various size viewing options can be seen by right clicking on the image here.

Photo stitched in Hugin and run through the autolevels routine in Paint.Net. July 2, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 12, Day 193: Looking South From Dee Wright Volcano Observatory

A final ginormous panorama from Dee Wright Volcano Observatory, this time looking roughly southwest (right) to east (left). North (left) and Middle Sisters dominate the horizon. Ed Taylor has said repeatedly that, in his opinion, the most likely spot for Cascade volcanic activity in Oregon is this area. Looking at the large number of recent fresh flows, it's hard to argue with that. Right click on the image here for size options.

Photo stitched in Hugin, otherwise unmodified. July 6, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 11, Day 192: Royal Terrace Falls

Royal Terrace Falls, at McDowell Creek County Park, between Lebanon and Sweet Home, Linn County, Oregon. At 110 feet, this is not huge by Oregon standards, but it is awfully nice. I saw an article over the winter about this park, which offers an approximately 2-mile loop hike with numerous falls. I was surprised; I've lived in the area for more than 30 years, and I'm pretty familiar with it. This is close by- a bit more than half an hour away from Corvallis- and I'd never heard of it. Can't be that special, right? Wrong. It really is quite wonderful.

There are two large falls, the above and Majestic, quite a number of mid-sized falls, ten to a few tens of feet, and uncountable small falls and riffles. Add into that picture a dominantly old-growth, low elevation temperate rain forest, and you have a recipe for extraordinary beauty. The bottom of the park is just into the Cascade foothills, which means that except in the coldest weather, this would be nice throughout the winter, when flows are at their peak. 

I'm guessing the rock here is mostly early Western Cascades volcanics, interbedded with either sediments or paleosols. The exposures in the park are not good, and heavily weathered, so it's hard to tell exactly what you're looking at. But based on my knowledge of nearby rocks, the clear repeating of resistant and weak layers, and the lack of any geological interpretation at the park, I'm comfortable with my guess.

Photo stitched in Hugin, otherwise unmodified. July 7, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 10, Day 191: Looking NE From Dee Wright Volcano Observatory

The other half of yesterday's panorama, looking to the north east. Near the center of the image, to the left of Black Butte, lies Green Ridge. This feature is the eastern half-graben of the central Oregon Cascades, and Black Butte is a cinder cone that erupted along that fault. Below is a labeled version of the image.

Top photo stitched in Hugin, otherwise unmodified. July 6, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 9, Day 190: Looking NW From Dee Wright Volcano Observatory

Another large panorama (9354 x 1895) from the trip Saturday with Dana Hunter, Anne Jefferson and Chris Rowan, this time looking roughly north (right) to west from Dee Wright Volcano Observatory. (right click on photo here for size options) This sequence of photos actually continues all the way to the east; Mt Washington actually is about the middle of the sequence. Sadly, despite quite a number of attempts, Hugin can't seem to manage actually saving a file that large. The preview looks excellent, the stitching process appears to proceed normally, as does the save. But the final file is utterly corrupt. I'll post the other half tomorrow. Below is a somewhat smaller version of the above with a number of the peaks and a couple kipukas labeled. (size options)

Top photo stitched in Hugin, otherwise unmodified. July 6, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 8, Day 189: "Geobloggers In Their Natural Habitat"

Chris posted a similar picture to Twitter yesterday; here's mine. Left to right, me, Anne Jefferson, Chris Rowan, and Dana Hunter, standing atop Dee Wright Observatory at McKenzie Pass on Route 242, Oregon. Numerous young lava flows converge on the pass in this area, and create a rugged- though far from lifeless- landscape. The summit of North Sister is almost directly over my head, and the summit of Middle Sister is over Anne's. South Sister is completely hidden behind the other two from this location.

Photo unmodified. July 6, 2013. FlashEarth location.

Geo 365: July 7, Day 188: Glacial Valley Near Proxy Falls

The view from the Proxy Falls trail, on the leg of Route 242 coming down to the west from McKenzie Pass. We're in a glacially carved canyon here, on the Collier lava flow, which is about 1500 years old. The trees are astonishingly large for such a young flow, and it's a real puzzle to figure out how they've become so well established and robust on such a young surface.

And that is one of the less amazing things about this spot.

Photo unmodified. July 6, 2013. FlashEarth location.