Cinder Cone and the Fantastic Lava Beds edifice. The summit of Cinder Cone has a crater with a double rim (photo), probably created by two different phases of one eruptive period. The cone also has a widespread ash deposit identifiable for from the cone. Blocks of red, cemented scoria within the Painted Dunes lava flows (photo) are pieces of this earlier cone, which were carried away by the flowing lava. When Cinder Cone formed, the magma feeding the eruption changed composition, shifting from basaltic andesite to andesite before returning to basaltic andesite with increased titanium content. While basaltic andesites are volcanic rocks containing 53 to 57% silica,
Lava bear Alfred Bayne. As late as 1981, scientist were being asked to identify small bear tracks in the Fort Rock area to determine if they were made by lava bears. Today, it is accepted that lava bears are actually common American black bears. It is also generally acknowledged that all of the animals that were killed or captured between 1917 and 1934 were either black bear cubs or small adults stunted from malnutrition. In 1924, Bend Senior High School selected the lava bear as the school’s sports mascot. The mascot was chosen shortly after a living bear was exhibited in Bend.