Mount Washington and Hayrick Butte
July 22, 2010
Photographer: Stu Garrett
Summary Author: Stu
Garrett
This photo of volcanic Mount Washington (at left) in the Cascades
Mountain Range of Oregon was taken while on a hike in the Deschutes National
Forest. I was with members of the Native Plant Society of Oregon on the
Pacific Crest Trail. Mount Washington is a 7,795 ft (2,376 m) composite
cone that's thought to be less than 250,000 years old (Pleistocene).
It's been prominently carved by the Wisconsin glaciation, between 18,000
and 12,000 years ago. The flat topped volcano to the right is Hayrick
Butte, which is referred to as a tuya.
The charred trees in the foreground are lodgepole pines (Pinus
contorta), mountain hemlocks (Tsuga mertensiana), and subalpine firs
(Abies lasiocarpa). They were burned in a lightning-caused wildfire that destroyed over 100,000 acres (40,469 hectares) of timber
lands. Fire is an important part of this subalpine ecosystem and returns
approximately every 50 to 150 years. The herbaceous groundcover is
primarily species of sedges (Carex) and
common beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) a member of the Lily family. Photo taken on July 4, 2010
Photo details: Camera Maker: PENTAX Corporation; Camera Model: PENTAX K100D; Focal Length: 24.0mm (35mm equivalent:
36mm); Aperture: f/11.0; Exposure Time: 0.0040 s (1/250); ISO
equiv: 200; Exposure Bias: none; Metering Mode: Center Weight; Exposure:
Landscape Mode; White Balance: Auto; Flash Fired: No; Color
Space: sRGB