Lava beds and caves

Petroglyphs

Captains Log August 11 – Another fun day!  We came   here   to  visit   the  Lava  Beds   National
Monument and it was a bit of a trek to get there.  We were told a much better way to get back by the ranger at the entry booth.  We started by going to Petroglyph Point which is before you get to the entrance of the main park.

The area was once a lake and the Native Americans came there to fish and they carved many symbols and pictures along the side of the mountain.  The park fenced it off as there was vandalism taking place.  We could see drawings that we knew we not original.  The lake dried up centuries later and was kind of ridged walking, not smooth at all like desert.  I wasn’t sure how my pictures were coming out with being 5-6 feet away but I think a got a few nice shots.

Devils Homestead

Before you get to the park entrance there is an area called Captain Jack’s Stronghold.  Captain Jack was the leader of a tribe that lived there.  At that time it was still primarily lava rock but it was on the shore of a huge lake.  So the military came in and claimed the land for settlers and the natives left were moved to Oklahoma.  That is very sad!   

From there we drove to the major part of the park and the young ranger at the entrance booth was very nice and answered our questions.  Leaving him our first stop was Devils Homestead, which is a huge lava flow where pretty much nothing grows.  It’s pretty impressive to stand at the overlook and see a “field” of lava rock that is about 2 miles long.

We made it to the Visitor Center.  This was the point at which I realized we should have

Heading in to Mushpot

packed a lunch!  I put a couple of snacks in my backpack and bottles of water, and essentials, but we discovered there was no food.  We did buy some jerky and granola bars at the VC to get us through!

Bill chatted with the desk ranger and got info on what caves were currently closed in addition to which once are best for “old” slow people!  So off we went to our first cave, Mushpot!  There was a mother, her parents and her 2 kids ahead of us and she was being a good mom and reading them everything on placards, and they could have cared less.  We went around them to the end of a very short cave and I was having trouble with my headlight when I was trying to take pictures, so I didn’t get many of any of the caves.

Indian Well Cave had no walkway or stairs so it was a bit more rustic to go down to the opening.  It really looked like it was born of the lava!  I made it down the lava crater to the

Indian Well Cave

cave opening and went in but it was really rocky and I decided it was not a good idea for me with my ankle still healing.  Bill only went partway down and decided it wasn’t too stable for him either, so back up and out we went!

The next cave was Golden Dome.  We went in together but Bill wasn’t into climbing over the rocks to the next room.  People were leaving as I crossed over so I was by myself.  Bill said he was going out and wait for me but I told him to stay right there

Golden Dome Entrance

in case I fell or something.  I kept going until I came to a Y in the cave and then I chose not to go further in case I fell or something.  If there had been another person or group I’d have continued.  I’m really disappointed in the photos in the cave as I opted not to take my good camera in case it got banged around in the climbing process so my cell didn’t like my headlamp, but it is what it is!

On my way back there was Bill sitting on a rock waiting for me!  So that was the last cave for us.  A lot were closed.  On the way out of the park we stopped at another small lava dome that fell in.

On the shorter road back to Tule Lake we drove for a couple of miles along the dry river bed.  It looked just like a salt basin, totally white.  I had Bill stop at a hunting and boat launch site and I walked out to see the “lake” up close.  The hunting blind was pretty large with 6 rifle windows and lots of bird poop all over!  Along the walkway were bushes

Dry lake bed

covered in white flowers and the butterflies were all over.  That was prettier than the waterless lake!

For dinner we had some of our stuffed chicken breasts we bought at Taylors in Cave Junction and they were very good.  I cooked a pot of fresh green beans and we had fruit with our meal.  Later we each had a small serving of blackberry roll with almost the last of the Marionberry ice cream.