The photo above makes me laugh so much. It's becoming a tradition for Dusty to try at least 4 times to get "the perfect photo" in front of these signs. Sometimes we even have to go back to the signs multiple times for the perfect lighting or if a helpful visitor didn't get the right angle. We all work hard to sit/stand, smile, and look perfect before the timer goes off. This time Jana decided to throw Daddy for a loop and jump just as Dusty got into place. And it turned out perfect! LOL! To review: Traveling south from eastern Washington, the skies filled with smoke from nearby wildfires, but one thing remained clear: the area was a hotbed of volcanic activity. You've likely heard of the Ring of Fire which encircles the moving tectonic plates of the Pacific Ocean. Within this ring are 452 active and dormant volcanoes, which accounts for nearly 75% of the world's volcanic activity, and about 90% of earthquakes. The west coast is full of opportunities to learn about, explore, and experience these forces of nature, so we made a few stops on the way south. Lava Beds National MonumentJust across the California border is Lava Beds National Monument. This park boasts over twenty caves of varying difficulty that visitors can explore. Unfortunately, most of them were closed when we visited. Bummer for us! On the plus side, if you choose to arrive any time in the near future, you'll be driving on smooth, newly paved roads throughout the park to get to your cave crawling destinations! Lava Beds is more than just stories of eruptions; it has been home to the Modoc people for over 10,000 years. The park does a remarkable job teaching Modoc culture and honoring their history, including the historic battles of the Modoc War, fought in the northern part of the park. If you're interested, be sure to pick up some pamphlets from the visitor center.
Eventually droves of people began moving to and through Oregon and south via the Applegate Trail through Modoc ancestral lands. Some new settlers were ruthless murders who coaxed their way into Modoc villages to murder men, women, and children. Our government considered natives to be "in the way" of progress, so they began promising better lives-- provisions of food, shelter, and clothing-- in exchange for relocation.
The fight didn't end well for the Modocs. If winning could be decided by tallying casualties, the natives certainly should have won, but that's not the way it ever ended. Desperate, the tribe eventually gave up and returned to the reservation. The beautiful lake which their culture relied on was drained and turned to farmland. Their way of life was nearly erased. Thankfully, some traces of the Modocs still remain. In places like Symbol Bridge and Big Painted Cave, visitors can barely see paintings left on the cave walls. But those paintings are nothing compared to the carvings one can see at Petroglyph Point Trail. This short trail takes you along a cliff wall filled with 5,000 individual carvings. But, again, there is something strange. The carvings are 9+ feet high on the cliff wall. How could they have carved this artwork so high? What now is a flat, wide expanse of wavy rock used to be Tule Lake, and the cliff used to be an island. As the carvings are suggested to be up to 6,000 years old, it's possible that generations of Modocs paddled out in canoes to carve into the soft volcanic rock. Sadly, much of the customs or meanings behind these petroglyphs have been lost as that information was not able to be passed down through the generations. The history geek in me loved the stories of Modoc culture, while the geology geek loved the lava! Throughout the park, lava flows take on different forms, sometimes jagged boulders and sometimes fairly smooth flows that even left behind casts of trees it took down as it slowly cooled. We learned the difference between a crater and a caldera. A crater is a lava vent that has filled up or closed off. A caldera is formed when the mountain implodes as the magma chamber collapses. For this reason, scientists have been asking for Crater Lake to be renamed Caldera Lake for decades. Lava Beds NM does actually have several craters though and visitors can easily hike to them. As mentioned, you can also find lots of lava tubes caves here. We were only able to see Skull Cave and Mudpot Cave, both "eh" on the scale of excitement. If we had the chance to come back again, we would definitely make sure the caves were open! We've heard from several people that they are pretty top notch and you should make sure to bring flashlights (and back ups!) Lassen Volcanic National ParkMaybe you've heard California is in a terrible drought. I'm not sure how long it's been since they've had rain, but judging from the wild fires, numerous dried up lakes, dusty earth, and dried up crops, I'm guessing it's been a long while. The Ramseys have been enjoying beautiful weather throughout our entire trip, but luck ran out when we arrived at Lassen. Or you could say we brought good luck with us! Because the day we arrived, it poured for hours! So much so that the higher elevations of Lassen got up to 5 inches of snow, closing down about 20 miles of the road through the park that connects the North and South entrances.
The next day, the kids and I stayed home at our dirty trailer park campground (Lassen West Village is NOT recommended!) to do some school work, but Dusty was determined to see more of the park. He drove around to the north side and visited the Butte and Manzanita Lake sections of the park and what he saw and did that day put Lassen at the very top of his favorite parks list. Not having been there, I think this post will best be told in pictures.
Lassen is one of the few places on Earth where you can find all four types of volcanoes: a shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome. After his Cinder Cone climb, he drove on to the north entrance for better views of Lassen Peak, one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. He drove the 20 miles of the park road that were open, then returned to Lake Manzanita and waited out a thunderstorm to get a good view of the peak's reflection in the water. The solitude gave him time to sit with nature and relax in the peace and quiet, leaving him glowing and recharged when he got home.
Our trip to Lassen wasn't what we expected due to road closures, and because of the Dixie fire that raged through much of the park in 2021, leaving many trails closed. Bumpass Hell, a hydrothermal hotbed of activity, and major park attraction was completely closed off, and we've decided that, given the chance, we would love to come back and explore what we missed (or see it again, in Dusty's case.)
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