Oregon's explosive past seen along the PCT south of McKenzie Pass

From left: Belknap Crater, Mt. Washington, Three Finger Jack and Mt. Jefferson

If a person wants to see evidence of recent volcanic activity, and by “recent” I mean within the past few thousand years, there is no place better than the Central Oregon Cascades. In this area, perhaps the best place to view this activity is along the McKenzie Pass. Here, a string of craters that once spewed immense flows of lava and spit cinder high into the air stretches for miles.

Base camp - Lava Camp Lake

View of North and Middle Sister from Four-In-One Cone

One of the best ways to hike the most miles on a weekend or week long vacation is to find a campground located within a short distance of a trail system and make it a base camp. From there, you can hop out of the tent, down some coffee and be out on the trail in a matter of minutes. If you want to hike in the morning on one trail and then hike another trail in the evening, a base camp is the way to go.

One of my favorite base camps is Lava Camp Lake, located on the McKenzie Highway near the pass, roughly 17 miles west of the town of Sisters. This small lake and campground among the pines lies one mile above sea level and is an excellent base camp for several outstanding hikes in the area.

Is there any such thing as "the perfect vacation?" (final part)

Lucky Lake with South Sister and Broken Top in background

Driven away from beautiful Waldo Lake by deep snow, I woke up near Lucky Lake the next morning. Not having eaten much the day prior, I pulled some oatmeal out of my backpack, gathered some water from the lake and cooked breakfast. A beer can stove, made after watching a few instructional YouTube videos, was used, along with a few ounces of denatured alcohol as a fuel source. Lightweight, the beer or pop can stove is not bad for backpacking, although overall, it did use more fuel than I had hoped. There are several different beer can stove designs. Here is one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2p9bnOGmSk&feature=related