Shadow Lake Fire threatens Sand Mountain
September 8, 2011 — Beginning as a lightning strike near Shadow Lake on the Deschutes National Forest, the Shadow Lake Fire has consumed over 5,500 acres...
About Sand Mountain
Sand Mountain is the tallest of 23 cinder cones and 42 distinct vents composing the Sand Mountain Volcanic Alignment. Representing some of Oregon's most recent volcanic activity, Sand Mountain is located just a few miles west of the crest of the Centlal Oregon Cascade Range in Santiam Pass. Erupting in a north-south line, Sand Mountain literally spans two Wilderness Areas with one foot in the Mt. Jefferson Wilderness to the north, and the other in the Mt. Washington Wilderness to the south.
At right Mt. Washington reflects in the calm morning waters of Big Lake near Sand Mountain
The Sand Mountain Vocanic Alignment is shown in textbooks as one of the best examples of volcanic activity forming over a linear fissure in the earth.
Sand Mountain erupted about 3,000 years ago, burying the ancestral headwaters of the McKenzie River. Water and snow melt now percolate directly through the filtering volcanic soils of Sand Mountain, being purified as they slowly move through the cinders, ultimately re-emerghing with river force in Great Spring, just below the surface of Clear Lake. This immediate percolation keep the water cool, and explains why the fact McKenzieRiver stay so cold. Great Spring remains near 38o year-round.
Over 3/4 of a cubic mile of lava flowed primarily west from the Alignment toward the old Casacdes. The lavas dammed the River and streams alike, forming Clear Lake, Fish Lake, Lava Lake, and Lost Lake.
The Hackleman Trout (a breed of cutthroat trout unique to Hackleman Creek drainage) became separated from their genetic brethren in the McKenzie River when Sand Mountain lava cut off the Hackleman tributary. While water percolates through the lava, the fish are stranded above the lava dam. Fish Lake formed at this lava dam, and it dries up each summer the snow at higher elevations is done melting. When Fish Lake dries up, the trout that don't make it back upstream are driven into water-filled lava tubes (where they can normally survive until water levels rise again in the autumn).
It's all about conservation
The SMS formes in response to runaway off-road motorized travel that was damaging the fragile volcanic soils in the Sand Mountain Volcanic Alignment. Formed over a period of several hundred years, the Alignment consists of 22 cinder cones, 41 distinct volcanic vents, and over 3/4 of a cubic mile of lava located in the western half of Santiam Pass near the crest of the Cascade Range in Central Oregon. The tallest of the 22 cinder cones was called "Sand Mountain" by pioneers traveling along the old Santiam Wagon Road, which crosses right through the middle of the Volcanic Alignment. The name was given becaause of the soft, ashy soils had the consistency and softness of sand, which made that section of the Historic Wagon Road notoriously trecherous.
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About SMS
The Sand Mountain Society is a volunteer-based grass roots organization dedicated to the conservation of valuable heritage and natural resources. More about us
Fire Lookout Restoration Projects
For more than 20 years the SMS has been the regional leader in the restoration of historic fire lookouts. Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps on the heels of the Great Depression, fire lookouts becon an icon for conservation, and a point of contact between forest visitors and the agencies that serve the public. At their peak, Oregon mountaintops hosted more than 800 fire lookouts More about restoration projects
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Willamette National Forest Centennial Celebration cancelled due to fires
September 8, 2011 — The Willamette National Forest Centennial Celebration has been cancelled due to the proximity of the Shadow Lake Fire...