The northwest part of the US has a rich geological history of volcanos. In fact, Mt. Shasta is just one example of dormant volcanos in the region. With that in mind, Karen, Bob, Cory and I took a road trip to the Lava Beds National Monument today.
The monument was established in 1925, and contains numerous lava tube caves. There are about 25 of the caves that are accessible to the public. Because of the White Nose Syndrome that is affecting bats, visitors that want to explore the caves have to be screened. We had time to explore just one of the caves.
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| Desert scrub with a cinder cone in the background. |
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| Lava fields with cinder cone in the distance. |
On the way to the Lava Beds, we drove by the Tule Lake Wildlife Refuge.
The refuge is an example of altering a river system to create more farm land and divert water for other uses. Known as the Klamath River Project, Tule Lake was drained from an original 100,000 acre lake to a present body of water containing about 13,000 acres. Most of the drained area is now in farm land. In the photo below, I'm standing on what would have been the shoreline about 100 years ago.
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| Standing at the shoreline of the original Tule Lake. |
The views of Mt. Shasta to and from the Lava Beds are stunning. Now for a quick science lesson. :-) An interesting weather feature shows up in these two pictures. In the morning photo, the sky is clear. The afternoon photo shows a "hat" or "cap" of clouds over the peak, yet there were no other clouds in the sky. As the air warms during the day, it rises up the mountain slope and condenses when it hits the colder air at the peak, thus forming the cloud cap.
In the "small world" department, at the Lava Beds Visitor Center, a man asked me if I was from Lake Placid because of the shirt I was wearing. I said no, that I lived in a small town about two hours from there called Gouverneur. He asked if I knew so and so, and I said I did. He told me that they grew up together and he was the best man at his wedding. Yep, small world!
You have to give small town America credit for being unique and creative. Driving through Dorris, California we saw this sign on a diner, and just had to stop and take a picture.
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| If they serve good food now, I wonder what was served before? :-) |
We stopped for a cold IPA at the Mt. Shasta Brewing Company in Weed, California on the way back to the cabin.
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| Mt.Shasta Brewing Company |
We ended the day by grilling some locally produced steaks and dining on the deck. It has been a really great weekend!!
On Sunday, Bob and Karen return to Oakland, while Cory and I head to his house in Roseburg, Oregon............
Thanks for keeping a blog, Dave! I love reading about all of your (and Zoey's) adventures!
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