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the Crooked River

This is long, but I found it fascinating.

 

30 million years ago a gigantic caldera was formed by the sudden collapse of overlying rock into an underground reservoir of molten rock. The resulting eruptions produced massive amounts of ash and debris which nearly refilled the depression. These deposits hardened into rock.

About a half million years ago flows of basalt lava poured into this area and capped it off. Over time, erosion by the Crooked River has exposed and sculpted the landscape that you see here. Nice work!

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Uploaded on June 22, 2016
Taken on June 11, 2016