Ancient Native American legend tells of a battle of the gods Llao and Skell that ended in the eruption of Mount Mazama. The erruption shot out a column of hot tephra (ash) a mile wide, 5-10 miles into the sky, AND at TWICE THE SPEED OF SOUND! At the time, this must have seemed to be an apocolypse for the Natives in the area!
Eventually, Mount Mazama imploded as it continued to errupt, eventually becoming what is now known as Crater Lake. However, the erruption left its mark for hundreds of miles around. You can even see evidence here in Wallowa County, about 300 miles away! Note the diagram in the gallery that shows the distribution of Mazama ash.
The coordinates will take you to a nice pull-off next to a large pile of Mazama ash. The ash is very fine and chalky. Ash is formed when there is a large explosion that shatters the magma within the volcano. The texture of the ash indicates that the explosion was extremely powerful. Another interesting feature is the size of this pile of ash. Most layers of Mazama ash are only a couple feet thick. However, as you will see when you reach this location, this pile is MUCH larger. Why? We don't know for sure, but a couple of hypothesis are: (1) Perhaps when this ash was deposited in the canyon, strong winds blew through and created large drifts such as this one, or (2) Maybe a cliff wall with a layer of ash in it collapsed and the layer of ash all piled at the bottom. Feel free to present your own hypothesis when you log your visit!
The cache is right nearby this pile of ash. It is a regular sized tuppaware container. As mentioned by wallowadave, this area is frequented by hunters. So at times there may be plenty of muggle activity. So please be stealthy if this is the case. Also PLEASE rehide this cache well! I don't want any muggles coming across it and trashing it!
I hope you enjoy this cache and that it teaches you a little bit about the power of the planet we live on! 