Another Survivor

This is another little tree trying to survive some trying conditions.  It is obviously doing better as it has more height and more branches.  Right now it's getting plenty of moisture from the snow.  It will never be anyone's Christmas tree but lots of people can admire it during the warm months.  Grow, little tree, grow!

Surviving, Barely

I have no idea how old this little pine "tree" is but is was struggling to survive amongst all the rock.  I thought it was amazing and there were quite a number of other trees trying to survive.  Makes me see that I have it pretty easy.

View Higher Up

 This was a typical view of the obsidian as we hiked higher on the trail.  The obsidian was sometimes huge, shiny black boulders and sometimes small pieces amongst other lava.  But it covered a big area.  It was the latest of the volcanic activity in the area, dating back 1300 years.

Obsidian Flow

And then we headed further south to see the obsidian flow.  This photo shows the depth of the flow and we were able to climb right up into it and take a circle hike through it.  Although there was still snow on the ground, it was a beautiful day.

Green-Haired Wizards

I thought the lichen (or is it moss?) on these old tree limbs make them look like green-haired wizards.  Maybe I had an overdose of fresh air and exercise which affected my brain.  Or maybe it's just a vivid imagination.

Striving To Thrive

This a view of the volcanic peaks from the ghost forest area and here you get to see four peaks, Mt. Bachelor being the largest one to the left.  And you can see how plants are trying to survive in the limited environment of the lava.  It's high desert area so there's not a lot of rain to give them a boost.  They really have to be the hardiest of the hardy.

Lots of Lava

There's different types and colors of lava, depending how it was formed and from how deep in the earth it originated.  The type shown here was blown out of a cone rather quickly.  Plants strive to grow but the lava is widespread and not the best growing environment.  And it covers miles and miles and miles.

Ghost Forest

Further south in Lassen Volcanic National Monument is an area where the flowing lava overtook an old growth forest.  When the trees died, there remained these holes.  Most her vertical but there were also some horizontal voids.  Poor trees.

Unusual Bush

I really should have asked someone to identify this unusual bush.  It looked like it might be some type of berry but the red wood spiraling around the gray base made it quite unusual.  I liked it immediately.  This one was growing at the top of the red cinder cone and appeared to be very healthy.

Mt. Bachelor

I mentioned views from the red cinder cone and this was one of the views of Mt. Bachelor.  There's a lineup of volcanic peaks and with the snow cover they are quite distinctive.  I'll be showing you more of them in the future.

Welcoming Committee

I believe this is a ground squirrel.  They were rather abundant and usually didn't mind posing for a photo or two but then they were off to do their squirrel thing.

Lassen Volcanic National Park Oregon

 When friends visited recently we took the opportunity to explore some of our surroundings.  Lassen Volcanic National Park is south of Bend and is rather extensive in size and features.

This photo shows the red cinder cone with a fire watch station at the top.  There's a quarter-mile hike around the cone which is quite easy and offers some 180° overviews of the area.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo from the bottom of the cone to show it's size and shape.  That's a good enough reason to go back again.