DigitalRoadtrip: California Day 5...Some Forgotten WWII History

Tuesday 8/15/17

From time to time I’ve stayed at motels with wifi that I just couldn’t seem to latch into. Such was the case with the Hotel Niles. I got a strong signal, I just couldn’t get in. So, as soon as the car was packed I strolled across the street to the Wild Mustard coffee shop. I could get into their wifi and their coffee was excellent. http://wildmustardca.com/

A few miles west Hwy 299 brought me to Hwy 193 north. Shortly after turning off, I saw a sign I had seen scattered around saying “Support the Free State of Jefferson" It’s a grassroots movement to create a new state out of the northern third of California and southwestern Oregon.

Eventually I came to County Rt 97. And the turnoff for Lava Beds National Monument. The turnoff said the visitor center was fourteen miles ahead. The second sign warned of loose gravel. That sign turned out to be a lie and the road was pleasantly smooth and recently paved.

There are signs on the way in saying you MUST have a pass to enter the caves. I actually wasn’t surprised. When I checked in the first thing they asked was if I had been in a cave since 2005 or had I EVER been in cave in Europe or China. I mentioned Carlsbad Cavern and the previous day’s trip into the Subway Cave. Since I was wearing the same pair of shoes, they gave me the option of either decontaminating my shoes, or changing them. Figuring hiking boots would probably be the better option anyway, I changed my shoes.

The problem is something called White Nose Syndrome. It’s a virus that’s causing all sorts of problems within the bat population. It has millions since it’s appearance in 2006.

After check in, they give you a map showing all the cave entrances. There are the easy ones, the moderate ones that force one to periodically duck walk under a low ceiling, and the difficult ones that require a hard hat and knee pads. These had sections with ceilings of three feet. A park ranger was doing a guided tour later in the day of a cave with a section of roof a little over one foot. Yeah, I didn’t take that tour.

The first cave I entered was named Gold Dome, for the splattering of gold color on the roof. It was listed as moderate and went back 2,229 feet. The odd thing about this cave is its shape. Somehow the flowing lava had created a figure eight of tunnels. The ranger suggested if you get turned around to just keep walking with the wall on one side and you would eventually find your way out.

Heading in...

The cave's gold colored roof. Not bad considering all I had was a small penlight where otherwise the cave would have been pitch black.

Taking into account the absolute lack of markings and the only light was from a small penlight, I did manage to get turned around. I was notice features again and again. I tried the wall on the right trick and that didn’t work either. Finally, I stacked some rocks along the wall by each junction I passed, so I would know for sure where I had and hadn’t been there. That worked and I eventually saw the light by the tunnel entrance.

I tried an easy cave next called Sentinel Cave. The ceiling is much higher, so very little ducking and crouching was needed.

This one had deep holes in the floor and metal bridges spanning them. I tried bracing the camera on one of the railings to shoot inside the came. Considering this is lit only my a penlight and is a tripodless thirty second exposure…

The craziest part was a metal staircase down. There were perhaps twenty steps on the ladder, but you could feel it getting noticeably colder as you walked down. It was like walking into the meat freezer. Just wild.

My third was one named Skull Cave. It was named after the numerous animal and human skeletons they found deep inside. They also discovered a thick layer of ice. I was okay with the cold air. The bitter cold and damp metal hand rails were a little off putting.

Having bumped the back of my head a few times during the day, I decide to do one more easy cave. There’s not much to see in the Merrill Ice Cave, but there was a time when the ice was thick enough people would strap on ice skates and glide by lantern light. Conditions have changed and the ice is all but gone now. But is still feels like a freezer.

The highest point in the part that’s easily accessible is Schonchin Butte.

A road loops part of the way around and takes you perhaps a third of the way up. From there you walk. It’s a pretty good dirt path all the way up to a fire lookout. The view was worth the walk. A lot of what you see is part of the greater Medicine Lake Volcano. You can see smaller cinder cones as well as volcanic vents and large areas of lava flows. The Park Service estimates the volcano has been active for about 500,000 years. It’s eruptions are small and not explosive like Mount St. Helens. The last eruption was about a thousand years ago.

My last stop is in a place called Captain Jack's Stronghold. In 1873, the Modoc were being relocated to reservations. Captain Jack and one hundred sixty others refused and holed up in a seemingly inhospitable section of lava field.

Captain Jack had access to a spring for water and s short trip to the neighboring Tulelake, which was much larger than it is currently. The first attempt to capture Captain Jack and his people involved 225 soldiers and failed completely. The second attempt involved six hundred and only succeeded once they had captured the spring and cut off access to the lake.

One stop outside the park boundary at a place called Petroglyph Point.

The height of the rock carvings corresponds with the level of Tulelake. The Modoc would take their boats to this rock.

After leaving the park, I crossed the border into Oregon and drove on to the town of Klamath Falls, my home for the next two nights. On the drive through town I made a stop into the Linkville Pioneer Cemetery.

Deep in the cemetery sits the grave site of Edward Engin, Joan Patzke and Dick Patzke.

On May 5, 1956 they were with a group heading out for a picnic in the mountains. They stopped to ask a road crew about the conditions ahead. Some children went off to investigate something strange they had seen on the ground. It exploded, killing six.

During WWII, the Japanese sent thousands of balloons into the jet stream towards the United States carrying bombs. Their goal was to cause panic and start forest fires. Until this incident, the balloon bombs had been kept a secret and had caused no other casualties.

My home for the night was the River View Inn. The best thing I can say about it concerns its location. It is indeed right across the street from a city park and the north shore of Lake Ewauna. I ventured across to the lake both nights of my stay. Yeah, and the price was cheap. That’s pretty much it. After interacting with the owner, I got the impression he had just given up and was going through the motions. So no, I wouldn’t recommend this place. Seriously, if you ever find yourself in Klamath Falls, Oregon, stay somewhere else. You'll thank me.

Sunset from the park...