Lava Beds National Monument, CA

San Angelo, TX, Library
    While I had no trouble driving my three-quarter ton pickup with a large slide-in camper to Lava Beds Natl Monument, the road was somewhat rough. Here's what the USPS website says: "[The] south entrance into the park is paved, but in very poor repair. Drive slowly and carefully around the potholes. The Forest Service is hoping to repair it if funding is available." See 1st link below for more info.

    [Photos taken 13-14 Jun 2011]

 

 

 

 

    One of the many lava tube caves. The lava came from the Medicine Lake Shield Volcano to the south. [See the 2d link below]

 

 

 

    This arch was formed by the different rates of cooling of the lava flow. The Spanish in New Mexico call barren lava malpais whereas the Modoc Indians called the many lava formations in Lava Beds National Monument "burnt-out fires." [Richard H. Dillon gave his 1973 book on California's Modoc Indian War that title.]

 

 

    Schonchin Butte (5302'), a cinder cone for the Medicine Lake Volcano, is named for the Modoc Indian Chief. As is usually the case the chief is an older leader whereas the war chief is younger; the Modoc War Chief was Kientpoos, but he was known principally by his nickname: Captain Jack.

 

 

 

    A forest fire in the distance; incidentally, there is a fire lookout atop Schonchin Butte.

 

 

 

    Another of the lava tube caves near the Visitor Center.
    The Modoc Indian War began in 1872 when the Modocs felt they were being mistreated by the Klamath Indians on a reservation near Klamath Falls, OR. The Modocs left twice before taking refuge in volcanic formations just south of Tule Lake, CA; those formations became known as Captain Jack's Stronghold.

 

 

 

    A view of Schonchin Butte from the southwest with the lookout clearly visible.

 

 

 

 

 

    A look up the trail from the east, which the Rangers had to climb to the lookout carrying supplies for their overnight stays in their backpacks; hwr, the current lookouts no longer stay overnight.

 

 

 

 

 

    A snow-capped peak in Central Oregon's Cascade Mountains.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    A portion of "Captain Jack's Stronghold."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Tule Lake as seen from atop Captain Jack's Stronghold.

 

 

 

 

    Tule Lake again as seen from the trail through Captain Jack's Stronghold. [N.B. Wear shoes or boots which protect your ankles; though I did walk the half-mile route in low-cuts, I had to be extremely careful to avoid hitting my ankle bones.]

 

 

 

    Canby's Cross, erected by Major Gen Canby's troops near the spot where Captain Jack shot and killed Canby under a white flag of truce. Captain Jack had been shamed into the act by younger hotheads who in essence called him a "Squaw Woman."
    The inscribed text reads "Gen Canby USA[rmy] was murdered here by the Modocs April 11 1873."
    Canby was the only Army General killed during the Indian Wars. (George Armstrong Custer, while at least a brevet [battlefield] brigadier general during his last stand, but had a permanent rank of Lt Colonel.)

 

 

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[Return to the top of the page]
Links:

• National Park Service web pages for Lava Beds National Monument
Actual
• Wikipedia aricle on the Medicine Lake volcano
• Schonchin Butte article on Wikipedia
• Wikipedia article on Modoc War Chief Captain Jack

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Routes:

T 3 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - S/A VA Clinic - Sherwood Way W/M

W 4 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

Th 5 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

F 6 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Sherwood Way W/M

Sa 7 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Sherwood Way W/M

Su 8 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Visitor Ctr - Big Lots - Sherwood Way W/M

M 9 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

T 10 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

W 11 Feb Actual Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

Th 12 Feb Route: Sherwood Way W/M - Lib - Sherwood Way W/M

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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com
• Free campsites website
• Info on finding BLM Campgrounds

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life, Woodalls, or FreeCampsites.net for including links to their free campground lookups.

One Year on the Road

Modesto Reservoir, CA

    One year ago I left Jim Tripp's spread near Castroville and drove north; because I had never been to the Napa Valley I headed for Calistoga. Since then my travels have taken me through parts of the southwestern states, California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah as well as Oregon.
    One of my primary goals was to visit as many National Parks, Monuments, etc. as possible along with state parks where the costs seemed reasonable. Will include some of the photos I've taken along the way like the one to the right taken on 23 April of El Capitan from the floor of Yosemite -- a place I visited for the first time this year despite making numerous backpack trips all around the populous valley floor.

    During the 12 months I've been on the road I've put over 26,000 miles on my new Ford F250, a 3/4-ton pickup. And I've learned how to use virtually everything in the camper except the shower, for which one needs to be as thin as Twiggy. [Yes, there's an outside shower attachment for which one can presumably heat up the water, but I eschewed that also.]
    The ski area on top of my mountain north of Tucson, Mt. Lemmon. [Actually it's name after amateur botonist Sarah Lemmon, who was largely responsible for the selection of the Golden Poppy as California's State Flower.]

 

    The entrance to the "lowest golf course in the U.S.A. No, that doesn't mean everyone shoot under par, but rather because it's located in Death Valley National Park. [One can only wonder what the sand traps are like!]

 

 

 

    Since California and Oregon received above-normal rain and snowfall last winter, poor Zion N.P. only had "skinny waterfalls" like the one above my camper.

 

    Unless the stock market continues to fall, forecasting even more contraction in the economy, gasoline price seem stuck around $3.50/gallon for unleaded. Hence, my plan for the next 12 months is to spend more time in one place, particularly if I can dry-camp (aka, boon-dock) for free or at a campground where I get half price.
    The eastern side of the Sierra Nevada from near Independence on 1 April.

 

 

    Though I have to be back in California for a Lemmon Clan reunion in Fort Bragg in July or August, I plan to spend the rest of the summer in the winter wheat belt, which runs from Texas up to Montana.

 

    A neck-bending look at the biggest tree (by volume) in the world: the General Sherman Sequoia.

 

 

 

 

    There's also a possibility that the Santa Cruz High School Class of 1957 will have a 55th Reunion next summer.

 

 

    Another massive tree: a valley oak in California's Indian Grinding Rock State Park.

 

 

    Finally, I hope during the next 12 months to update all of the genealogy web sites I created and/or maintained.

 

    Most people would give an incorrect answer when asked where the only U.S. Army general was killed during the Indian Wars. No, it wasn't Custer, who was temporarily a General at the Little Big Horn, but rather it was Gen. Edward Richard Sprigg Canby who was talking with Captain Jack of the Modocs under a white flag of truce in what is now the Lava Beds National Monument. Captain Jack and two others of his band were hanged shortly thereafter.
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Links:

• Wikipedia article on Gen. E.R.S. Canby

Sa 19 Nov Actual Route: Dos Reis County Park - Stockton - Linden - Woodward Reservoir

Su 20 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Reservoir - Oakdale - Woodward Reservoir

M 21 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Reservoir - Oakdale - Riverbank - Modesto - Modesto Reservoir

T 22 Nov Actual Route: Modesto Reservoir - Waterford - Modesto - Modesto Reservoir

W 23 Nov Actual Route: Modesto Reservoir - Waterford - Modesto - Riverbank - Oakdale - Woodward Reservoir

Th 24 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Reservoir - Oakdale - Woodward Reservoir

F 25 Nov Actual Route: Woodward Reservoir - Oakdale - Sonora - N.F. Tuolumne River

Sa 26 Nov Actual Route: N.F. Tuolumne River - Sonora - Frogtown RV Park

Su 27 Nov Route: Frogtown RV Park - Angels Camp - Murphys - Angels Camp - San Andreas - Valley Springs - New Hogan Reservoir Campground

M 28 Nov Actual Route: New Hogan Resv CG - Valley Springs - San Andreas - New Hogan Resv CG

T 29 Nov Actual Route: New Hogan Resv CG - Mokelumne Hill - Martell - Sutter Creek

W 30 Nov Route: Sutter Creek

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Finding Campgrounds:

• RV Campgrounds from TrailerLifeDirectory.com
• Family Camping Directories from Woodalls.com

N.B. I receive nothing from Trailer Life or Woodalls for including links to their free campground lookups.

Alturas to Canby to Lava Beds Natl Monument

Lava Beds National Monument

    Add another county without free WiFi in it county libraries: Modoc. I had intended to post the photos I took during the drive from Lake Almanor, but they will have to wait.
    This shot to the west on SR139 not too far from Canby is of Mt Hoffman and the mtns surrounding Medicine Lake, which played a large part in the creation of the [Mono] Lava Beds. [Click 1 or 2 times to enlarge.]

    In this view to the west from further north Mt. Hoffman is the tallest peak and the partially snow-covered mtns are those surrounding Medicine Lake. A CHP officer pulled alongside as I prepared to continue the drive north, but I told him I was OK and had stopped to take a photo as well as answer the call of nature.

 

    Near the small town of Tionesta I took a photo of the Lava Beds NM sign with the above-described mtns on the left side of the photo. While the sign warned of a rough road, only 2 or 3 miles of the 14 had potholes.

....
Note: had problems uploading the many Lava Beds photos at the Klamath Falls Library on W 15 & was forced to abort due to time constraints; hwr, I saved much of what I had done to the point where I got error messages and should be able to resurrect the post with all of the photos I took during the two days at Lava Beds N.M.
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Links:

• Brief acount of the Modoc Indian War
• Wikipedia article on Modoc Indian War
• "An Indian Woman's Touch -- Winema

W 15 Jun Actual Route: Merrill - Klamath Falls - Pinehurst - Hyatt Lake BLM CG

Th 16 Jun Route: Hyatt Lake BLM CG - Ashland - I-5 @ CA's North Border - Klamath River (on SR96)