On McKenzie Pass at 5,325 feet, the fall colors are vivid!

The vine maple is a rich red.

A beautiful fall day on the McKenzie-Santiam Pass Scenic Byway.

Another beautiful day, another day trip. Over McKenzie Pass, following an 1860 wagon road through a 65 square mile lava flow, we stopped at the summit where the Dee Wright Observatory is located. Built during the Great Depression by the Civilian Conservation Corps utilizing the local lava rock, it features “lava tube” viewing holes that identify the surrounding Cascade peaks.

All Lava rock, it looks so inhospitable!

I think this is North Sister, framed by the ‘lava tube’ window.

The mountain locator mounted on the top of the observatory is helpful in identifying the multiple peaks surrounding us.