Death doesn’t heed timelines or care about your plans. For the second time in about half a decade, we had a nonrefundable vacation uprooted by a close family death in June of 2023. While a trip is inconsequential compared to a loss, the odds of this happening twice are baffling. After a tiring day of funeral-related socializing and public speaking, neither of us had any desire to pack or travel to Oregon, but just a few hours after we arrived at our destination, a particularly exquisite sunset changed our attitudes. Here’s the details on that sunset and the captivating darkness that followed.
Crater Lake National Park, a destination we’d never been to, was the reason we planned this ill-timed outing. We used Klamath Falls, which is about 45 minutes from the park, as our base. Unexpectedly, some nearby “filler” attraction surpassed Crater Lake on our list of favorites. How can that be? Read on, and you shall see.
Sandwiched between dormant volcanoes and calderas in the crest of the Cascade Mountains sits the High Lakes, a series of scenic lagoons dotting swaths of charming forest. The first thing we did after arriving in Klamath Falls was hike five miles amongst those High Lakes. We skirted the shores of the Great Meadow, 500 acres that flood seasonally when Lake of the Woods overflows, to Lake of the Woods. Lake of the woods is a popular body of water for canoeing, fishing, and swimming. We saw evidence of its popularity as we passed campgrounds but little in way of people on the trail.
Looming in the skyline during this hike was the symmetrical face of Mt. McLoughlin, a 9,495-foot stratovolcano. Mt. McLoughlin began erupting 200,000 years ago. Nearby sits its much younger volcano brother, Brown Mountain. These volcanoes, particularly Mt. McLoughlin, made the setting magical as the setting sun turned the Great Meadow into a fiery mirror. Somewhere in those moments, our outlook changed from emotional and physical exhaustion to wonder and curiosity. Nature will do that to you.
The next day, we crossed the California border to visit Lava Beds National Monument. Why Lava Beds? I read a bit in a book about Crater Lake to prepare for this trip, and it mentioned Lava Beds National Monument as another spot you could visit close by. Although we had no idea what Lava Beds consisted of, we were game for finding out. Lava Beds turned out to be an amazing place, far more interesting and adventurous than expected.
Lava Beds contains the highest concentration of lava caves in the continental United States owing largely to its location on the Medicine Lake Volcano, a massive shield volcano. Over 400 caves have been named in the monument. Two hundred of these have been explored to some extent, and about 100 have been mapped out. Visitors are free to explore 21 of the mapped caverns. Although the number of caves in Lava Beds is impressive, the best thing about them is what’s underfoot.
In the 1920s and 30s, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) made considerable improvements to a number of the caves in the monument. How does one improve a lava cave? If you’ve ever hiked through one before, you will no doubt recall it as a rough experience with a lot of painful boulder scrambling. They typically are littered with chunks of sharp volcanic rock that has fallen from their ceilings. At Lava Beds, thousands of tons of stone were removed from tunnels either by hand or block and tackle systems using the light of gasoline lanterns. Openings were also expanded in some cases to allow for easier access.
What remains when rock debris is taken from a lava cave? It turns out, a whole heck of a lot. Stalactites, ribbed walls, benches, shelves, and flow lines all become visible. We also found shimmering veins of gold and silver created by colonies of actinomycete bacteria. So cool!
Before we proceeded down at Lava Beds, we went up. The Schonchin Butte Trail leads 0.7 miles up a 500-foot cinder cone to a lookout created by the CCC for fire surveillance. Although this hike is a steady climb and not particularly shaded, it isn’t too difficult. That day, the cone’s hillside was a contrasting canvas of lavender and canary-colored grasses and flowers.
Our first cave at Lava Beds was Mushpot. Mushpot is 770 feet long but is easily accessed as it’s paved and lighted for its entire extent. Rangers recommend visiting this cave first as an intro to the system. It contains a fireplace once used by a bootlegger and the stony remnants of lava splatter but is otherwise fairly dull compared to other tubes. However, its many signs provide ample information on the monument’s caves that comes in handy as you continue to explore.
Following Mushpot, we checked out Sunshine. Sunshine Cave includes a skylight, a residual opening to the surface that was there when lava was flowing in the tube. This skylight supplies illumination to sections of the cave, so some diehard cavers might complain about it making the cave less… well, dark. Yet, we found the opening fascinating and fun. This was our favorite cave of the day.
At 1,635 feet, Valentine was the longest cave we explored. Valentine felt much grander than Sunshine with large columns and expansive rooms. It also felt tiny in places, which is why I eventually decided to turn around not far from the end.
Skull Cave, the last cavern we entered, has a huge 60-foot opening coated with course chunks of stones. This massive entrance is just one of the cave’s three levels. Its bottom level contains the Ice Chamber, an extensive slab of perennial ice of unknown depth. This ice is what the bighorns, mountain goats, antelopes, and two humans, whose remains were found in the cave upon its discovery, were seeking when they perished. And yes, that is why it is named Skull Cave. The water in the lower levels of the cave is kept cool enough to remain frozen because cold air sinks and hot air rises. Meaning, the cold air in the lower sections is only warm enough to rise when temperatures outside are even colder. Hence, this is a chilly cave!
Lava Beds deserves to be more than just a resting stop on the route between Crater Lake and Lassen. It is unlike any other cave system we’ve been to with floors of petrified volcanic flow ranging from rigid cauliflower to ropey waves. It was the highlight of our vacation, particularly because it wasn’t crowded. For the inquisitive and adventurous, Lava Beds is an unbelievable place.
Now that I have covered our surprise favorite, I will next turn my attention to the attraction that prompted us to Oregon in the first place, Crater Lake National Park.