the last stop of our random desert exploration in Eastern Oregon was the appropriately named “crack in the ground.”  I love how the northwest names things.  Everything is pretty self explanatory and this is no different.

Crack in the Ground is a volcanic fissure about 2 miles long with depths measuring nearly 30 feet below ground level in Central Oregon, United States. The eruptions from the Four Craters Lava Field were accompanied by a slight sinking of the older rock surface, forming a shallow, graben-like structure about 2 miles wide and extending to the south into an old lake basin. Crack in the Ground marks the western edge of this small, volcano-tectonic depression. The crack is the result of a tension fracture along a hingeline produced by the draping of Green Mountain lava flows over the edge of upthrown side of the concealed fault zone.

The last time we were here I believe there was snow on the ground.  It was different seeing it with tall grass in spots.  We didn’t even need jackets even though it’s considerably cooler the lower you go!