A Peak Experience

Hat Creek tumbling from Mt. Lassen

2019-10-02 (Wednesday)

We had a wonderful day today in Lassen Volcanic National Park. We definitely timed it right vis-a-vis those winter storms that came through. There is enough snow here to remind us that winter is coming, and the night was cold--definitely below freezing. We were toasty warm, though, and woke up to clear blue skies without a single cloud all day! Joe said he knew it would be clear... we went out last night, after I finished my blog, to look at the stars. It was gorgeous-- at 5,000 feet elevation in the forests of northern California, surrounded by only tiny towns, there is no ambient light from anywhere. The only thing limiting us was the incredibly tall trees- we looked straight up, and our sky was surrounded by trees. But it was all crystal clear then, and this morning too.

Unfortunately, Joe didn’t sleep well, so I left him to try to take a nap around 10:00, while I went to the visitors center for maps and information. I dawdled there, chatting with not-quite-2-year-old Eloise and her mom about what might be a good gift “for the baby” (Eloise helped decide!) Then I stopped at the campground store to see if they had any cereal, but mostly what they had was souvenirs. I finally went home, and discovered Joe, instead of napping, had made our lunch sandwiches for our day exploring Lassen.

So we gathered up everything we needed for a day trip (we even included a thermos of hot tea), and the three of us started across the road which goes through the park. There is only one road, running from north to south, so we knew we’d have to retrace our steps on the way back, but it is only 30 miles, and the ranger in the visitor center assured me we’d have no problem doing it in a day.

Well, it was simply a stunning drive. Our first significant stop was at the “Chaos Crags and Jumbles” scenic pull out-- a rock slide which came down the north side of Mount Lassen. Lassen  erupted several times between 1914 and 1921, so there are many areas where recent  results of volcanic eruption can be seen. The so-called “Devastated Area” is a large area littered with rocks which were thrown from the volcano 5 miles away. There is an interpretive trail through the area, indicating a number of different features in the types of rocks which landed there, as well as photos taken in 1915 after the most significant eruption. Several rocks were labeled “Hot rock” in the photo, as people came up to see them right after the eruption, when the rocks were still warm from the volcano. It must have been astonishing to see and hear at the time.

“Chaos Crags and Jumbles” Rock Slid

We ate our lunch at the picnic area nearby, looking right at the mountain above us, so serene and snow covered now. Then we drove on to the next stop, Hat Creek. There we discovered the creek (same creek we’d sat by yesterday!) rushing merrily over another nearby cascade. This time we could practically see its route from the mountain--not literally, but Mount Lassen was right in line with where we were standing. I took a photo, noting that it was like a postcard!

From there, we spent time noticing the meadows with the streams meandering through them. They must be wonderful in the spring with the wildflowers, but today the contrast between the fields, the water, and the remaining snow was truly special. We’ve never been able to stick around to visit the parks this long after tourist season, and I only wish we could have spent a week here (Joe says I say that at EVERY park! Which is probably true!) Anyway, I think Joe’s favorite sights are the streams and waterfalls, and mine are the meadows, especially with the streams in them. So we were both enthralled by the Hat Creek area.

We had a bigger treat when we drove on to the King’s Creek area. There, we saw King’s Creek wide and gushing downhill. And a few miles further, we saw the same creek just mellow, winding its way through a large meadow with Mount Lassen looming over it in the background. It was simply gorgeous!!!

I think that was really the high point of the drive for us. We went further--first higher up so we got a great view looking over the meadow we’d just visited, and then to the trail head for Lassen Peak hike. This was at 8,500 feet, but at this angle (from the south side of the mountain, and much higher toward the peak), the mountain was much less beautiful. I likened it to getting VERY close next to someone who is a lot taller than you are, and then looking up. Basically all you would see is their chin! All I can say is, this angle did not impress us, and of course we weren’t planning on a strenuous hike farther up, either.

Lake Helen

Overlook above Bumpass Hell

From there we drove past Helen Lake, which WAS beautiful, and then suddenly we were on some extremely winding roads with nothing between us and the spectacular view of the valley and the Cascade Mountains in the distance. Neither of us had the stomach to look over the side! We also stopped at two geothermal areas, Bumpass Hell and Sulphur Works. We had a great view of the valley at the former, but the trail to the mud pots and fumaroles was 1.5 miles each way, and we were long past the time of day when that would have been even remotely do-able for either of us. In fact, when we got to Sulphur Works, Joe just let me jump out and look at it myself--he said, “My legs ache, and I’ve been to Yellowstone.” It is true, Lassen is like a mini-Yellowstone in respect to the geothermal features. Sulpur Works was one really impressive mud pot (bubbling up vigorously) and a lot of steam coming right out of the mountains around. Definitely cool, but not on a scale of Yellowstone.

Fumarole

Then it was my turn to drive us home to give Joe a break. Those winding roads with the steep drop-off were just too much-- I stared at the double-yellow line in the road and drove about 20 miles/hour almost the whole way until we got past that point. Fortunately, it was now late in the afternoon, and the road was almost deserted. Not one person came up behind me for the ENTIRE drive back to our campsite! And I was driving pretty slowly the entire time. It went much faster when we didn’t stop at every place, but I did pull over for one last look at the meadows in the late afternoon sun.

We got back to the RV at 6:00, feeling very fulfilled and happy with our day. The road through Lassen is definitely a beautiful drive, and the mountain itself is lovely. It is maybe not as big as Mount Shasta, but it is special. And thinking that it is still active.... well, we are just glad we were not erupted on! Especially considering that in 1914, three guys were checking out the smoking mountain when it DID erupt! Remarkably, they all survived, but one was pulled out of the ashes after a rock landed on him! So it’s no joke hanging around an active volcano. However, we will be leaving tomorrow... sadly, we are finally driving east. We have to be home 2 weeks from today. I will blog the rest of the trip, but I can’t imagine we’re going to top this last park. Lassen was truly special to us.

Alternative Rosh Hashanah

Cinder Cones on the Horizon

2019-09-30 Monday

Today was Rosh Hashanah. The only time I remember not being home on Rosh Hashanah for the past 35 years or so, was in 2007. That year was our first cross-country RV trip, and we spent Rosh Hashanah in Yosemite National Park. It was a wonderful experience, and we've never forgotten it. Today was memorable also, and a worthy addition to our "alternative Rosh Hashanah experiences".

The day started with us waking extra early and immediately checking our campground for snow--we'd heard it might snow an inch or so overnight. No such happening, however-- we'd had rain, but there was not a trace of snow. In fact, when I took Cassie out to walk, I thought it felt almost balmy, and the sky had signs of blue in it! But I did see when I looked at the mountains surrounding us that in fact, they did have a covering of white. It didn't seem to be threatening us, however, and we ignored it.

One thing we had discussed last night with Adam was whether there was any recycling center in Klamath Falls. We've been shlepping a lot of aluminum cans and plastic water bottles with us for weeks, unable to find anywhere to recycle them. Turned out there was something called the BottleDrop where we could bring our stuff. So that was our first stop--it was only 5 minutes away (all of Klamath Falls is less than 10 minutes from any other part of it-- it's not a large city.) We parked in the large parking lot of a Fred Meyer store right behind the BottleDrop, and dragged in two large bags of flattened plastic bottles, and a bag of squashed cans. Turned out the cans had deposits on them in Oregon, and we got $3.70 back for turning them in! What a deal--we'd have PAID to be able to drop this stuff off! We investigated and discovered they also took cardboard and glass, so back we went to the RV and brought in a lot of cardboard and a few glass containers. Voila! Suddenly our shower is not full of trash!

From there, we headed south to Lava Bed National Monument. It was only about an hour drive away, and to get there, we crossed the state line into California. It turns out that when you cross a state line on a back road, there's no colorful "Welcome to California" sign waiting for you :(  I thought that was very unfair. But soon I was distracted by unusual black mounds in the distance. They sure looked like volcano cones to me!

The landscape changed, and we found ourselves driving along a gorgeous lake, Lake Tule, which signs told us was a wildlife preserve. There were a lot of birds on the lake--I even saw some pelicans! On the other side of the road, the rocks were rising up around us. Soon the lake side turned to cultivated land, but the rocks became even more jagged and unusual. And then suddenly, as we arrived at Lava Beds National Monument, all we saw were black rocks of lava all around us.

The landscape reminded us very much of Craters of the Moon, which we visited in 2011. But it's very different in some ways. Craters of the Moon had much less vegetation growing on the surface--we saw a lot of sage, and especially beautiful Juniper trees (which are all loaded with berries right now.) And the volcanoes are visible on the surface--we climbed up one of the cinder cones. The volcano which created this area was a different kind than the other. The area was formed by the Medicine Lake Volcano. Rather than erupting in explosions, it was "gentler", and erupted through vents in the surface, causing the lava to flow and form what they say is a "shield-like profile.)

I had a hard time understanding the surface convolutions, but what I did understand was that the lava created tunnels as it came out, and those acted like "arteries" to guide the lava as it left the interior. The walls of the tunnels cooled first, creating a sort of "tube" where the lava continued to flow. When it stopped flowing, the walls were still there and they are now caves which open up on the surface. There are more than 700 lava tube caves in the Monument, and a couple of dozen have been opened up to access by the public.

Joey reading an information panel in Mushpot Cave

 We stopped at the visitor's center, where I got a pin for my new collection, and talked to the ranger. He gave me a map, a list of which caves were the easy ones (they are divided based on level of difficulty to explore), and a cave permit. The small interpretive area was very interesting, to say the least, also (more about that in a minute.) It was already about 3:00, so we were anxious to go into one of the caves. We chose the Mushpot Cave, which is the easiest-- it is lit, and has a concrete floor, and interpretive panels to show you features of the cave as you walk through it. Nevertheless, it was exciting and fascinating, not least because Joe and I were literally the only ones in the entire cave! We read about the different types of lava flow, the different markings on the walls and ceilings, and the animals which live in the cave (pack rats, bats, and icky things like centipedes and scorpions.) We brought extra flashlights (recommended), but we still both managed to hit our heads in one particularly low area. We loved it, and I would have liked to try another cave, but Joe was ready to call it a day. It was pretty late, so that made sense.

Looking Down through Mushpot Cave

Another thing which made the area in general so interesting was its settlement history. Originally the area was the territory of the Modoc Indians. When we were driving in, we stopped at an overlook which also marked the spot of the final battle between the Indians the the US Army, which was trying to move them out of the area. The war lasted a number of months, because the Indians knew the land so well that they could avoid the army. The end came when the Indians themselves became divided, and one group guided the army to the stronghold where the Indians were encamped. There were fewer than 200 left in the end, and they were relocated to Oklahoma and their culture was mostly lost. ("Another proud moment in American history," was my husband's wry comment.)

Juniper Tree with Berries

 In the interpretive center, we learned that much of the parks infrastructure had been built by the Civilian Conservation Corps, which lived at Gillem's Camp (which was near the National Monument entrance.) Sadly, during World War II, the camp was used as an interment camp for Japanese civilians. We also learned about that cultivated land we'd seen next to Lake Tule as we drove in. After WWI and WWII, the government had offered parcels of land to army veterans for farmland. The parcels were given out via lottery--which was held by drawing names of winners out of a large pickle jar! There was a replica of that in the interpretive center, along with other information about the settlement of the area around the National Monument. Much of that land had been wetlands, which were drained to create the farmland.

We decided to spend the night here, because it was too late to leave to drive toward Lassen National Volcanic Park, our next destination. Yes, we really are seeing a lot of volcanoes on this trip! The most interesting thing we learned-- until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, the Medicine Lake Volcano erupted most recently of any in the lower 48 states-- it last erupted only 900 years ago! That's modern history! Scientists study the regrowth and changes at Lava Beds National Monument to learn what may happen in the future around Mount St. Helens. So each of these volcanoes is an ongoing learning experience.

Cassie contemplating the volcanic horizon

 Our Alternative Rosh Hashanah proved to be very interesting--we did not expect so much from this site. But we wished, in the end, that we'd gotten an early start to our day and gotten here earlier. There is a lot to see, and we plan to see a couple of more things on our way out tomorrow. Meanwhile, the campground is beautiful, with views of the surrounding area, and cost us a grand amount of $5.00. So you can't beat that for a lovely end to a lovely day.

Weather Erupting

Mount St. Helens under cloud

2019-09-27 (Friday)

We had a very good day today, with a variety of weather to go with it. When we woke up this morning, it was warm, with a bright blue sky and very few clouds. I said to Joey, “We should get some great views of Mount St. Helens with this clear sky!” I guess I jinxed it. By the time we arrived at the Mount St Helens Visitors Center at 10:30ish, there were already some clouds massing in the sky. By the time I looked out the window at the center for a “view through the trees” of the mountain in the distance, the sky was covered with gray clouds. But at least the skyline with the mountains was visible.

Due to the fact that I read a lot of the newspaper reports of the volcano’s eruption (on May 18, 1980, for those of you who don’t quite remember about it), we were at the center for 90 minutes or so-- Joey finished way ahead of me and went out to wait in the RV. I found the articles in the paper fascinating, especially the extent of the immediate fallout of the eruption-- skies as black as night in cities 50 miles away, inches of volcanic ash covering everything to the east of the mountain, etc. The extent to which the ash fell heavily made it clear exactly what happened in the Ashfall Fossil Beds in Nebraska which we went to last month-- that volcano was in Idaho, but the ash really travels far! In the case of Mount St. Helens, it traveled around the world--and that was a “small” eruption.

Anyway, it was about lunchtime when I finished, so we ate our lunch in the parking lot while we discussed some plans for the rest of the day. We wanted to go up to the Johnston Ridge Observatory for a close-up look at the volcano crater. We also needed to make some plans for the next 24 hours, including where/when to do laundry, where to spend the night, and where we could find good wifi for the football game at 12:30. Regarding the night, we wanted to look at Seaquest State Park, which was literally right across the street from the visitor center. I thought that would be a nice place to stay tonight, but was pretty sure it would not have any wifi for tomorrow. And certainly no laundry.

So after lunch, we did a reconnaissance mission. We left the RV in the parking lot of the visitor center (the Jeep was still unhooked from the night before; we’d driven them separately for the less than 5 miles from the KOA) and drove the Jeep across the street. We really liked the looks of the State Park-- it was very green and pretty. But of course, there was no internet or wifi or phone service.

Mount St. Helens, still under a cloud

From there, we drove down to the town of Castle Rock, 5 miles away (by the I-5) and discovered that not only could we get excellent AT&T coverage, but the town had very good free wifi as well. There was also a reasonable looking laundramat with good reception in its parking lot.

So we drove back to the visitors center, drove the RV across the street with the Jeep leading the way, and found ourselves a nice spot. Then we hooked up the RV and while I paid the fee, Joey made himself some tea. Finally, we were ready to go up to the ridge and see the mountain close up, but unsurprisingly, it was about 2:45 already!! Luckily, the Johnston Ridge Observatory closes at 6pm, so I figured, an hour up, and we’d get there by 4pm, giving us two hours there.

Mount St. Helens, under a different cloud

We drove up in the Jeep, and the whole time, we were noticing the clouds being more ominous even than before. We also made several stops on the way up, which took extra time. One was because I wanted to see the North Fork Toutle River, which is where the largest part of the overwhelming mudslide came down from MSH, carrying everything with it. I pulled out at the beginning of the long bridge, and as I started across, it started to rain! Meanwhile I could also see sun, so I looked for a rainbow--and sure enough, I got an entire rainbow arced right across the bridge!  So pretty, but I was too close to get more than part of it in my photo. Once I got back in the car, we left that little rain shower behind.

Rainbow crossing the Toutle River Bridge

We also stopped at the Sediment Collector Dam (I think that’s what it’s called), and looked at that for 10-15 minutes. The dam is an Army Corps project to help keep the mud, which continues to come down off the mountain to this day, from flooding down the Toutle River and clog it all up, as it did after the eruption. Although there is a hiking trail of not quite 2 miles which goes right to the dam itself, it was wet and late and obviously we were contented with the overlook, and (in my case) to read an extensive newspaper article about it. 

Finally, we stopped at a couple of overlooks--one of a trestle bridge over the valley (where I read about the work Weyerhaeuser has done in timber reclamation in the area--they lost millions of dollars from the eruption, because they had a tree farm on the side of MSH), and one of the mountain. I’d been grumbling nonstop during the drive up about the clouds, but because they seemed so variable, but was maintaining some hope. But when we stopped at the Loowit Viewpoint, only a mile from the Observatory, a dark cloud had settled right on top of MSH. We could see the foot of the mountain, with the area which was deepest in pumice (I think it’s called the pumice plain) and bright green new plant growth there; also deep ravines of dark grayish-brown, and the Toutle River coming down the mountain. But we couldn’t see the crater, or of course the lava dome inside, or any details at all that would distinguish it from any other mountain.

Mount St. Helens under a cloud, with a display panel to help identify it

 As we stood there reading the display panels, which explained what we SHOULD be seeing, we were very aware of a black cloud approaching us yet again, and suddenly without warning, there was a whoosh of a cold front and the rain suddenly came down in needles. We had to make a run for the Jeep, and we were both distinctly damp. (I was damper... since I’d gotten wet earlier.) We’d gone through 4-5 light rain showers, but nothing like this. Joey was ready to just go home, but I said no, we were only a mile away and I wanted my national park pin for my collection!

By the time we’d gone the extra mile, the rain was already almost stopped, but as we went into the center, the cloud was even lower on the mountain. However, we had an hour and twenty minutes, and were determined to use it! We saw two films--on on the actual eruption (there were a lot of cameras at the ready to record it, because the scientists knew from earthquake activity and a few “practice” eruptions by MSH that it was going to be soon), and one on how the area almost immediately started to rejuvenate, with plants and then animals. The latter ended with a statement about how the mountain is coming back to life in so many ways, and will continue to shape the earth-- and then the screen rolled up into the ceiling, and the curtain behind it rose, to dramatically display floor to ceiling windows with a panoramic view of: TA-DAAA!!!  White fog!!. Obviously on clear days, you get a fabulous view of the mountain at that point through those windows. What we got was, as I said, white fog, COMPLETELY covering the mountain by now. We laughed but it was disappointing. I was hoping to see MSH herself.

I was particularly interested in the panels describing experiences from some of the survivors who had been closest to the mountain when it erupted. They were absolutely harrowing! One was about a family with a 4 year old and an infant--they were able to escape somehow, and were picked up by a helicopter the day after the eruption. One was about 4 loggers working in the forest--only one of them survived to give the details of their escape, and he was badly burned from the explosion of hot air which preceded the ash cloud. Another was a couple, who were tent camping and suddenly saw the river of mud and fallen trees rushing down upon them. The man was able to leap onto a log and “ride it like a horse”, but the woman fell into the mud. Luckily he was able to find her in the chaos and grabbed her wrist (which was broken) and held on to her. They were carried miles by the mud and debris, finally “escaping” by climbing over logs toward the shoreline as they were being carried downstream.

Dramatic clouds which are not covering Mount St. Helens

We were shaking our heads in awe at the entire experience when the announcement came that the observatory was closing. Throughout our stay, we saw through the large observatory windows nothing but white-- once the entire view was a white curtain, but most of the time we could see down into the valley just outside the ridge, and also see the foot of Mount St. Helens, as before. I tried hard to get a little more into my photos, but there was just no visibility. It was very disappointing from that point of view, but we learned so much and the information was all so interesting, that I don’t feel too terrible. From all the movies and photos, I feel as if I’ve seen it, somehow.

So at 6pm, we had to come down the mountain in the Jeep, in the gathering gloom from rain, which came in earnest for a lot of our ride. Then it would stop and we’d have clear views of the mountains, and a couple of gorgeous views with clouds and sky. Maybe it could have been worse-- I looked at the weather report for the mountain, and it may snow tomorrow. We are NOT prepared for that! But anyway, we got home at 7:30, turned on the furnace to fight the chill, and had an easy dinner of kasha and scrambled eggs.

I can’t upload this blog until tomorrow, when we go into town around noon for lunch, laundry, wifi, and football. And after that, I’m not sure what we’ll do next.

Photo of Mount St. Helens that I borrowed from the Internet

Fly Me To The Moon

Day 19: Sept 14, 2011

Craters of the Moon National Monument is truly a place that is unique to this continent. We were in a state of constant amazement from the time we woke up this morning, surrounded by black rock. We started in the Visitor Center with a film about the area, which got us oriented. The “lava lands” were familiar to the Shoshone Indians but to few others until around 1900, when sheer curiosity brought in people interested in geology. (The Oregon Trail pioneers worked their way around--it would have been impossible to get a wagon across this terrain.) The park is largely unspoiled, the campgrounds are almost never full, and it is so QUIET in so many places. Last night, except for a very occasional sound of a car passing on the highway (which is fairly close to the campground), we heard absolutely nothing.

Here's a photo of the "black campground".

Another thing I have to say this morning--it isn’t TOTALLY black. There are plants growing which give a green color in some areas. Even some trees called Limber Pine have grown in the area. There are a number of other small plants. So the color isn’t as pitch black as it appeared last night. But it’s pretty black for all that!
We spent about 4 hours on the 7 mile park loop road. There are paths through several areas, giving a view of lava flows from the North Crater. The estimate is that this volcano erupted only about 2,000 years ago! B’rei’sheet continuing into times of recorded history. Really amazing!
In the area called the Devil’s Garden, I became fascinated with the few plants that grow in the black cinders.
Then we had a wonderful ½ mile hike up “Inferno Cone” to get a view of cinder cones lined up along the Great Rift, which is a 52 mile fissure where lava would come up and form these cones. This is a photo of the Inferno Cone from the parking lot--we hiked up the left side (you can't see the whole thing. That's Mo on the far left. And @ to Aimee, how about "Inferno Cone" for an SL handle?)
This is a view of the Great Rift line. The foreground of the photo is the black cinder cone we were standing on.
The top of the cone was the big surprise--I expected plain black crunchy gravel again, but it was lush with shrubs, little flowers, and even a couple of large trees. The climb was one of those amazing experiences where there was an unexpected bonus which makes you simply marvel at the world. You can see the cone is all cinders; from the side we approached, none of the vegetation was visible. It was so cool.
And finally we took the short pathways to look inside the Spatter Cones. These are miniature volcanoes which throw their insides out like “splatter”--and are responsible for a lot of the chunky blocks which are all over the park. We even learned different names for the different types of lava rocks… these splatter chunks are called “aa” (it’s a Hawaiian name, pronounced ah-ah). Here's Joe standing inside one.
There was snow in the bottom of one of the cones--this is on way plants get moisture, is from these little pockets of snow. But nothing seemed to be growing down there, it was probably too deep and dark.

This park was definitely a 10 on the WOW Scale. I highly recommend it to everyone. Now I just have to find a way to get to Hawaii and see volcanoes actually erupting. But until then, this was really an amazing experience. My pictures, as usual, will not do it justice.

We left Craters of the Moon around 1:30 pm heading towards Lava Hot Springs in south-east Idaho. We made a brief stop to take my photo in front of the World’s Largest Potato--we were right in that town and I couldn’t resist something so silly. There was also the Potato Museum, but we didn’t go in; Joey said the whole concept seemed “a little bit au gratin.” LOL!! All the way along the road, btw, we are seeing volcanoes in the distance--once you get educated, you can’t miss it. They are such young volcanoes here, so they still have a distinguished cone shape and a flat crater top.

We passed Pocatello, which is nestled in a valley among the mountains, and as I write this, at Mo’s kitchen table, we are coming into Lava Hot Springs…

OK! So this is The Plan, as a friend of mine always says. We are now parked and hooked up at the KOA in Lava Hot Springs, about 50 feet away from the river, which is cascading just here. Our bedroom window will be looking right toward it. About a 5 minute walk from here, on a little pathway along the highway, is Idaho’s Famous Lava Hot Pools. We walked over there to take a look, and it looks fabulous. Five hot spring fed pools with 5 different temperatures in a garden setting. The garden has been carved into the lava walls of the site--we are perched on the side of an old volcano. In fact, I can see the jagged crags of rock sticking out of the mountain just ahead of us, on the other side of the roadway.

It is now 7pm. Joe is making dinner while I upload the blog, and the plan is to walk on the path after dinner to the hot spring pools, and spend the evening there (they are open until 11pm). And then we will walk home on the little path, which will undoubtedly be an adventure in itself. Luckily we have a brand new halogen flashlight . We are SO excited about the lava pools, and I am sorry I didn’t have my camera on our walk earlier to photograph the gardens--maybe I’ll do it in the morning. But for now--it’s been a volcanic day all the way around, and so amazing and awesome.