Lava Beds June 18-19

I knew little about Lava Beds National Monument before visiting. I knew there were plenty of lava tube caves some replete with fern covered entrances and ice formations deep inside. I did not appreciate the variety of passages, their unique features, or the broader history of the area including the "Modoc War" and the "Tule Lake Relocation Center". Though our visit was less than 24 hours I felt like I saw and learned a lot with the time we had and was glad we opted to detour through here on our way back home. 

From Crater Lake we drove on through Klamath Falls and then crossed back into California. We arrived at Lava Beds National Monument with just enough time to visit the visitor center before it closed and snag a campsite at the surprisingly nice Indian Well Campground. We were getting sick of camping in the wind though! I dried our neglected boat gear from the John Day and then after dinner we took the very short drive to check out a couple caves near the visitor center. We first visited Mushpot Cave, likely the first cave for most visitors; it was the only cave with a concrete path and lights strewn throughout. After that we strolled across the way to Indian Well Cave, which had a spacious boulder strewn passage and a small crawl through exit allowing us to make a loop. 

Mushpot Cave

Indian Well Cave (and below)

The next day we started by checking out Skull Cave which had the largest passage dimensions that we would see, really quite impressive for a lava tube. A stairway at the back led to a frigid lower level where we could spot portions of the ice floor (I imagine previously a pristine blue instead of mud-covered).

Skull Cave (and below)

We drove on to check out the short loop hike around Captain Jack's Stronghold which Claire needed to visit to complete her junior ranger badge. This was a particularly chaotic area of collapse pits, blisters, and expansion ridges that a group of Modoc were able to use as a natural fortress to hold off a US army garrison that numbered ten times their forces. It was also eye-opening to realize that at the time the former extent of Tule Lake extended right up to the base of this flow.

We drove around the Cave Loop Road, David and I having a quick look at Sunshine Cave. We all hoped to walk through Sentinel Cave being the longest comfortable throughtrip, but it was annoyingly closed due to maintenance. We rounded out our cave tour with a jaunt into Catacombs Cave, easily the longest mapped tube system with over a mile of anastomosing passages. This cave most impressed me for the great features including lava stalactites, drippy walls, rafted blocks, multi-level tubes, golden bacteria dew drops, and great floor flow textures. We went a little less than halfway into the cave (where we would have needed to belly crawl) and then looped back to the entrance by another route. I certainly would have been happy to see more caves but this brought us to a little after noon and seemed like a good opportunity to make progress on our drive.

Weighing our options (and noticing the near freezing temperatures expected near Bridgeport), we rallied to drive on all the way to Horton Creek Campground west of Bishop which would place us in easy driving distance the following day. Particular highlights on this drive was seeing the roadside West Walker River run at "above recommended" flows (essentially a 10 mile long non-stop Class III+ rapid) and some great lenticular clouds at sunset over Mono Lake. Another final windy night camping, a stop at Schat's Bakery in Bishop, and then the home stretch drive across the Mojave. All were happy to make it home and be out of the car. Heather and I both wished Mt Lassen snow would have cooperated to allow a visit but otherwise I thought we did well with the stops we managed on our drive back.

Crater Lake June 18

We awoke to the pitter-patter of light rain falling on the tent. We had a trickle of cellular data such that we could check the Crater Lake webcam from the comfort of sleeping bags tent: total whiteout! That was all the justification we needed for a lazy morning. We would check again later to see if anything appeared or we were better off driving onward. The rain continued intermittently such that we ended up packing away wet tents. We decided to drive the road west of Crater Lake and delay the decision of whether to detour until we reached the south entrance of the park. In the current snow conditions all the roads and trails were basically closed other than the south rim village and the first lookout a mile to the west so the best we could really hope for were a few rim views of the lake. As we approached the entrance we found ourselves in a dead standstill of over 50 cars jockeying to make the turn into the park. We were caught off-guard. Yes it was Father's Day but we thought the unseasonable snow conditions and poor weather outlook would be enough not to expect crowds. The last webcam image I was able to view showed a hint of blue beneath the white of the clouds and so we decided to go for it and hope for the best. 

It took about a half hour to get through the entrance line and then we drove the few miles up the winding road to the village at the rim. As we crested the rim I caught a brief glimpse of the lake down to the left and almost demanded a stop to snap a picture in case the view completely disappeared. The rim was bustling with activity but driving a little further along we found a parking spot. I ran out to peer over the rim while the kids entertained themselves on parking lot snow piles. I could see the faint outline of Wizard Island and some of the lake but not the far shore, already a worse view than when we arrived minutes before. And then it snowed! After the kids had their fill of the snow we dipped into the small visitor center. I periodically went outside to snap pictures as the clouds and visibility continually shifted. After we had seen about all there was to see, we drove the rim road to the western lookout. 

Fortuitously we arrived at this lookout during a clearing in the clouds and after hiking up the nearby hill I was able to get a full panoramic photo of the lake (frontispiece). It really was impressively beautiful and I marveled at the deep blues of the lake that shifted with the clouds. I was particularly struck by the details of the avalanche paths entering the lake near Wizard Island and the jagged shoreline towards Phantom Ship. This certainly was the shortest visit to a national park that I have ever made. I certainly would love to revisit, hike and explore but I was thankful for the views we were able to see. It was a whole lot better than nothing!

We stopped at one more roadside view of eroded tuffaceous gravels on the way out of the park then continued our drive on to Lava Beds National Monument at the far northern edge of California. Our Crater Lake detour was a quick one but an interesting little winter wonderland stop in the middle of summer.

Umpqua Hot Springs & Toketee Falls June 17

We rallied for a semi-early start from Poole Creek Campground on Lemolo Lake to drive about a half hour through forestry backroads to the Umpqua Hot Springs trailhead parking lot. What I could find online suggested it was a very popular quarter-mile hike to the hot springs so an early start would be to our advantage. This proved true as the parking lot was already half-full at 8am. The forest here was particularly lush and the North Umpqua River was close to packraftable at the flows we saw. The trail took us up a hill and along a steep railed hillside to finally descend slightly to the top of the prominent travertine mound where the hot springs were. A later count would reveal a total of 10 soaking pools; most of the choice pools were occupied but we quickly settled into a shallow warm pool we could call our own. After a while we spotted a vacancy and moved in to the prime hot pool. Both in terms of scenery and soakability this hot spring ranks high. 

It seemed we timed our arrival well but overall people seemed friendly and willing to share the hot water. It was a lovely spot with the 50ft+ high travertine mound forming a natural clearing in the forest and the crystal clear waters of the river below. I'm sure there naturally would have been a lush garden of moss and ferns instead of trampled mud but otherwise it really was a high quality hot spring. Overhearing others talking we learned there were two more pools down at river level and so the kids and I ventured down the steep muddy slope to the river. There were plenty of people down here too but there was a neat pool nestled under the overhanging travertine complete with dripping stalactites and a pocket of cute little bats overhead. We briefly soaked in this pool before heading back up and then a little more soaking in our prime pool before heading back to the car. We managed to kill a couple hours at this choice group of springs before heading on. 

We drove onward to stop for another short hike to Toketee Falls, which I would later find out was a "cover girl" to an Oregon waterfall guidebook. This parking lot was thoroughly filled to the brim but we managed to snag a spot and had lunch at the trailhead picnic table. Quite surreally there was an over-pressured water flume adjacent to the parking lot composed of redwood planks bound by rusting steel straps with jets of water spurting everywhere. Everything about it conveyed a sense of imminent failure but we ignored the possibility like everyone else. The hike was somehow even lusher forest than the previous hike and offered some great views of some impressive whitewater. The river was clearly at a very high flow stage. We continued on to the cliffhanging viewpoint for Toketee Falls, a two tiered cascade funneling through a gap in columnar basalt to meet a very large plunge pool. A guy was highlining in front of the waterfall which initially annoyed me but eventually I gained entertainment from. The hike and falls were truly spectacular, something more befitting of a national park than a near-roadside attraction.

We settled in for a lazy afternoon in camp and then drove to Diamond Lake for pizza. Thankfully we found looks deceiving as a no curb-appeal rundown looking shack guarded by thick clouds of mosquitoes ended turning up tasty pizza with lake views. All in all it was a satisfyingly mellow day after the go go go of our John Day River trip.

John Day River June 13-16

This was a rare trip in that I knew next to nothing about it beforehand and would be jumping on Keith's permit. We would have 70 miles of mostly flatwater and occasional Class II riffles between Clarno and Cottonwood. Keith would be bringing a support raft and his kids would be bringing a couple friends so Heather and I jumped at the chance for this to be a mellow first multiday raft-supported river trip for her kids. I'd pack dehydrated meals I knew we would have a fairly epic lengthwise drive through California and out into north central Oregon. And that is about it. It was only later that I would find out we would be seeing lots and lots of basalt. Zora the dog came which provided some good entertainment too.

Keith, Kari, Zora, and I left the quaint and quiet Bear Hollow Campground early to start rigging the raft. We happily snagged a prime stagging spot underneath the Clarno Bridge (the shade greatly outweighed the swallow droppings). Despite this 8am start at the put-in, we still managed to not get on the water until about noon with lots of organizational shenanigans including a search for a place to fill up water. 

The river started with lots of calm and occasional riffles but 4 miles down was Clarno Rapid, the only Class III rapid on our trip. Zora seemed to have a great time jumping between different boats as long as she ultimately was not too far away from Keith. After a lead-in riffle we pulled over to scout. The rapid had a river-width line of large boulders forming a row of holes with a tongue on the left requiring quick maneuvering to avoid a rock (the kayak line) and a meatier but wider line on the right (the raft line). The consequences were not trivial and so we thought a little about how to get all our boats and people through. Long story short I ended up making three trips through the rapid. We ended up taking about an hour to get past this rapid.

Clarno Rapid (and below)

We ended our first day going only 10 miles, which set a brutal pace for the following days to make up time. As we would find out nearly all the choice camps would be taken by the time we would show up and this was the case with our first camp. Thankfully this first group was willing to share and so we slid a little further along from their main camp. The wind was wretchedly terrible. Gusts were sufficiently strong to kick up dirt and deposit sandblasted layers inside our tents all night long. Everybody slept horribly and I woke up with a very scratchy throat. And the wind continued through day 2. We needed to make some miles. I paddled the two-person IK with Claire and eventually found out that I could greatly increase the comfort and efficiency by sitting on the thwart. We had a few more nice riffles including Basalt Rapid and the scenery improved with growing basalt cliffs. We saw several large groups of bighorn sheep including a group of about 50. A nasty headwind was the status quo. I felt lousy all day long. Everybody pretty much collapsed in exhaustion at our lunch spot. We worked very hard to make 23 miles this day. We searched several times for a good camp and ended up with an only OK one. Camp was still windy but thankfully the gusting and snadblasting stopped.

Day 3 we pushed to go 25 miles. We stopped to check out some petrogylphs at Potlatch Canyon but otherwise paddled and paddled. The trees were becoming less numerous but there were still some very nice basalt cliffs on the outside of river bends. Lots of paddling, lots of sun, lots of basalt. Still sick. Kids had fun. Once again we passed the best camps that were already occupied and made due with a single tree camp. Another windy night but thankfully reducing intensity. 

For our last day we still had 15 miles to go. Finally with a break from the wind I flew my drone for a short aerial view of some of the sweeping river meanders near camp. Claire was quite insistent on trying out a packraft and so she paddled the first hour or so including some particularly splashy riffles she loved. The scenery was more desolate but some nice basalt cliffs and spires remained. We finally spotted the Cottonwood Bridge a little after 1pm which relieved us all I think. Graciously Keith gave us a pass on the full derigging and so after a busy hour of helping we set off to get kids food and camp.

So that was the John Day River. I'm sure it would be better appreciated if Heather and I were not sick for the whole trip, we did not have heinous headwinds and sandblasted nights, got better camps, and did not have to fight with long days to make progress on the river. The scenery was nice but largely unchanging over 70 miles. The lack of whitewater left me wanting. The group was good. The fishing looked great if that is your thing. It was nice to log more river miles. Thanks very much to Keith for leading the trip.

Castle Crags June 11

This will be a quick post to acknowledge a brief camping stopover at Castle Crags State Park to break up our lengthy drive to the John Day River. We arrived late enough to just set up tents, grab a takeout pizza from the nearby small town, and go for a short evening walk to the lookout. The surrounding forest was pleasant other than the militant mosquitoes. The lookout was better than expected with views of the main Castle Crags massif, Mt Shasta, and some other mountains known as the Grey Peaks. I could imagine revisiting this place with some more time to explore some of the area's waterfalls and to scramble some of the picturesque granite peaks. A small tidy area but quite scenic and a welcome stopover.