Lava Beds National Monument was more interesting than we had expected. Turns out we were in the middle of the largest volcano in the Cascades. One can just barely see the one side of the rim from the other. It was the Medicine Lake Volcano and the floor of the valley is miles across and populated with lots of volcanic formations. It is also a significant place in the history of the "Indian Wars" that followed the Civil War. It was in these lava fields that the Modoc Tribe made its last stand against the U S Army whose job it was to move them to a reservation in southern Oregon. The Modoc chief was known a "Captain Jack" and his fortification in the lava fields was one of the places we visited today. We also did a 2 mile hike to a place where the Modocs had a major battle victory over the Army - their last.
The other attraction to this area are a number of caves formed by the lava flows. Some have ceiling as high as 80 feet. We only went in to one. I guess when you have seen one lava tube cave you have seen them all. That's probably not true but we did not visit any of the other caves. The one we visited was cold and damp and it takes a long time for ones eyes to adjust to the darkness. If you like caves and bats however, this is a good place to visit.
This is not a National Park but a National Monument but it is still run by the park service. It is pretty far off the beaten path so that combined with the fact that it is early in the tourist season made for no crowds as all. I don't think we shared a parking lot anywhere with more than one other car except at the visitor's center. Wind, wind, and more wind made some of the hiking in the open or in higher places a little unpleasant. That kept us from seeing more and kept me from taking more and better pictures.
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| Hiking back from viewing the battlefield. |
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| Inside the lava beds in Captain Jack's stronghold. |
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| Inside Cave - Pretty Dark Huh! |
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