Jon's Travels: Lava Beds National Monument

A cool fort someone built at the campsite using lavarock.

From Redwoods, I hopped in my car and made my way into Oregon. I had to go into Oregon to get to the Lava Beds National Monument, which is in California, because there are no roads between the Redwoods and the Lava Beds.

I stopped for gas and made the mistake that nearly everyone not from Oregon makes: I tried to pump my own gas. This was a pretty big deal for some places and they asked me to get back in my car. Oops.

I drove past the route to Crater Lake, with plans to hit it later. I had to go up a mountain, however, and got snowed on!

Snow in September. I thought this was just a UP thing...

On my way, I stopped to take a picture of a lake. It was absolutely breathtaking.

I arrived in the park around 2 pm and got to spelunking! There were loads of caves, all lava tubes. They were pitch black, so no pictures of inside, unfortunately.

I only visited the caves marked as "beginner" because the difficulty escalates pretty quickly. In beginner caves, you can generally stand up the whole time, but the caves are pitch black. They recommend at least 2 flashlights. For intermediate, there are sections where you might have to crawl through. Generally, hardhats and shin pads are recommended for this level. At the top there was advanced, where you could easily get lost in the caves. There are also sections where you may or may not be able to squeeze yourself through.

I would have gone and done some intermediate caves, but I didn't think going by myself was a good call. I also didn't have any of the gear. That just means I know how to be prepared for next time!

Even in the beginner caves, there was something about completely cut off from the surface. There was a section in one of the beginner caves that I am not sure if you were supposed to go down and see. There weren't really ropes, so I decided to see what was down there. The diameter of the hole was probably about a foot larger than me, so it was kind of a tight squeeze. I get down there, and there is ice in the cave. Super cool. At the same time, part of my primitive monkey brain was screaming "IT IS DARK AND COLD AND YOU ARE GOING TO GET STUCK, RUN!". Even with that, it was a rush.

I also some pictographs in one of the caves. These were pretty cool, but hard to see.

I made my way back to the campsite and tried to dry out my gear. It wasn't warm in this dessert, just dry and cold. As I was airing everything out, I decided to go talk with my "neighbors" at the camp next to mine. They were a very nice couple from Seattle on vacation. We talked for a bit and were going to have a fire, but the weather had different plans. It started storming and we retreated to our tents.

I woke up early the next morning to go climb one of the cinder cones that had the fire lookout on top. I was a little chilly and decided to run up the mountain. Yea, bad plan. It is really easy to underestimate just how much climbing takes out of you, and how out of shape you really are. I eventually made my way up, and it was worth it. Full 360° view.