THURSDAY - Well our time here at Crater Lake National Park is over.
Our original plans were to leave here and cross from Oregon into Nevada for a few days, just to collect our OR/NV Border Crossing. That would have left us with just ID/NV to have achieved all 107 of the possible crossings, but that's not going to happen, not today anyway.
Two days ago the big wildfire outside of the park hopped over Oregon Route 140 and closed the only viable route between here and Nevada. Although the road is once again open, we didn't feel like chancing it not being open when we arrived today, the fire is still buring out of control and has been since August 5th.
So we're going to skip our short little visit to Nevada and continue heading south into California. Before we cross that border we're going to do two things!
The first and most important is to fill up with gasoline, because once you cross into California the price basically goes up by $1 a gallon. The second, and not quite as important, is to get groceries and drinking water.
Fortunately there is a Walmart for the groceries and a Love's Travel Center for reasonably priced fuel, both in Klamath Falls, Oregon, just 22-miles short of reaching the California border. Gas at the Love's was only $4.15 including my 10¢ discount for being a Rewards Club Member.
TRAVEL DAY PHOTOS
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Wasn't sure if the sunrays would show up in a photo, but it seems they did just fine.
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Our next 4-night stop is in the Lava Beds National Monument's Indian Well Campground.
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That sign was unnecessary, it's easy to see there are rocks up ahead.
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Just up over that ridge is the Visitor Center and the campground.
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The elevation here should keep the daytime highs in the mid-80°Fs and lows in the 50°Fs.
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We scored a great First-Come-First-Serve site all to ourselves.
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There are 43-sites here and only 3 were occupied when we arrived at noon-time.
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With the 15-20 MPH breeze and the back hatch open it made the 85°F feel comfortable.
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Our batteries are at 100% SOC and Starlink is up and running, what more do we need.
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There's plenty of room for others to drive by without clipping our stairs.
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This panoramic view from our front door will be enjoyed for the next 4-days.
After finishing getting setup we drove up to the pay station at the campground entrance and paid our $40 fee for 4-nights of camping. That's half price, compliments of my $80 Lifetime Senior Pass, a.k.a. the Old Goat's Pass.
Then we drove up to the Visitor Center to get my Passport Book stamped, no sticker this time, and watched a video highlighting the attractions here at the park.
Let's just say we're going to be underground for most of our visit here, it certainly will be at least a few degrees cooler down there.
FRIDAY - We are going to put off our below ground exploring until tomorrow.
Today we are going to check out what above ground sightseeing options there are here at Lava Beds National Monument. There are several, but it's going to require driving all the way back up to the north end of this 47,000 acre park.
ABOVE GROUND AT LAVA BEDS
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The Devils Homestead flow provides an excellent example of chunky and rough "a’a lava".
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The 12,000-year old flow from the Medicine Lake Volcano was quite extensive.
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Like treads rolling on a tank, the cooling front of the flow fell off and was run over by the hot molten core following it.
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Gillems Camp was an 1873 Army Command Post during the Modoc War with the native tribe.
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This rocked in area served as a temporary cemetery for the Army casualties.
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This path takes you to higher ground where there was a small Army redoubt.
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The redoubt (a small enclosed military fort or defensive stronghold) was only about 20' round.
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The path continued on towards the North Entrance Station for Lava Wells National Moniment.
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From there it was a short walk back to where we parked ROVER.
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On our way to our next stop we paused along the road to check out these yellow flowers.
Captain Jack (born Kintpuash, c. 1837 – October 3, 1873) was a leader of the Modoc tribe.
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Today Tricia hiked the short trail through Captain Jack's Stronghold.
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Captain Jack’s small group of roughly 55 warriors retreated into the natural basalt labyrinth...
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...of the Lava Beds National Monument (a.k.a. the "Stronghold"),...
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...successfully holding off hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers for months.
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Along the short trail there were several small caves.
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On the southern horizon looms a tall mountain peak.
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That would be the 9772' tall Mount Shasta, some 46-miles away as the crow flies.
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Another one of the small shallow caves found here in The Stronghold.
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Perhaps that's why the Modoc were able to remain hidden where vastly outnumbered.
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Looking north you can see the agricultural area that was once the bottom of Tule Lake.
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A little bit further to hike before we're on our way to the next stop.
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On the very northern edge of the National Monument property are two wildlife overlooks.
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They are actually overlooking the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
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The Eastern Overlook is even further away from the shoreline of Tule Lake.
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We've been looking forward to visiting this exclave of Lava Beds since seeing it on the map.
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Even without any petroglyhs the mountain walls texture was interesting to look at.
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The Cliff Swallows have really made this wall into a home for themselves.
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Cliff swallows build enclosed, gourd-shaped nests out of more than 1,000 individual mud pellets...
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...mixed with their own saliva. Both the male and female scoop mud in their beaks from puddles.
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LOOK! There's actually someone at home inside of this well crafted nest.
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It's obvious that these two rock pillars used to be just one.
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Anyway, here are the petroglyphs, don't ask me to decipher them for you!
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The sad part is they have to be protected from vandals behind a barbed-wire topped fence.
SATURDAY - Today's sightseeing is also a scouting mission. When we finish up here at Lava Beds National Monument we're heading south towards the base of Mount Shasta.
There are two ways to get there, one involves going up and over Medicine Lake, through the Modoc National Forest, on much lesser roadways. The other goes completely around Medicine Lake using the more established highways in the area.
The problem is one route is only 77-miles long and the other is 152-miles long. With gasoline prices hovering around $6.00 a gallon here in California that's a $40 difference in gas alone, nevermind the extra couple of hours on the road.
While ROVER did just fine today with the shortcut route, we're not going to try and tow THE POD through these higher elevation forest gravel roads. Guess we'll be taking the long way around with THE POD on Monday.
Also considered part of our scouting activities today was visiting the Medicine Lake Recreation Area and the 4 U.S. Forest Service campgrounds surrounding the north shore of the lake.
We took note of several reservable campsites right on the shoreline of the lake. If we're ever back in this area we just might have to reserve a site on the edge of the 902-acre lake.
Our first sightseeing location is in America's newest National Monument property, the SáttÃtla Highlands National Monument was created on January 14, 2025. It was one of two new National Monuments created that day, the other, also in California, was the Chuckwalla National Monument which we plan to visit before leaving the state in late October.
You'll find photos of today's sightseeing locations in the following slideshow.
MORE ABOVE GROUND SIGHTSEEING
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Out at the SáttÃtla Highlands National Monument is what's called the High Hole Crater. "SáttÃtla" in the Ajumawi language translates to "obsidian place." I'd say they got that right!
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There is no national Park signage as of yet and maybe never will be. The only way I know we're in the Monument is I saw this exact photo on the official website.
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Just down the road is the Jot Dean Cave in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
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There were several "lifts" in the lava that was laying around on the surface.
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We didn't plan on entering the cave, so we didn't bring headlamps or gloves.
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It looks to be a fairly large opening and easy to access.
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It could be days or weeks before anyone else checked out this cave if we ran into issues.
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Up at the Medicine Lake Rec Area in the day use area is where we found bathrooms.
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Off to the right from the Day Use Area is where all 4 of the campgrounds are found.
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We took a 17-mile shortcut back to the Lava Beds National Monument from here.
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It was all gravel road except for the last 1/4-mile.
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As soon as we reached Lava Beds gate we pulled over to check out Mammoth Crater.
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As you would expect it was a mammoth sized crater in the ground, a collapsed volcano.
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This is similiar to the way crater lake was formed, only on a much larger scale of course.
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Directly across the road was the short trail to Hidden Valley, no not the salad dressing.
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It defintely was hidden below the surface of the surrounding terrain.
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Near the Visitor Center we saw workers piling up dead wood into tipi shapes that will be burned when it's safe at the beginning of the winter season.
SUNDAY - It's time to get down to business and go underground!
We've put it off until last and now it's time to get busy. If all goes to plan we'll visit 4-5 underground lava caves before the day is finished. It all has to happen today, because tomorrow morning we leave for greener pastures.
TIME FOR SOME UNDERGROUND SIGHTSEEING
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By far the easiest cave to explore in the whole park is the Mushpot Cave. It's located a little over 100-yards from the Visitor Center's front door.
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Down 22-steps at the entrance we could see the cooled molten rock "dripping" from the ceiling.
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Mushpot Cave is the only cave in the park that is lit 24/7 with electric lights. All other caves require you to bring headlamps or flashlights, cell phone flashlights won't do.
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The path is well lit the entire way into the cave.
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There are floodlights shining upwards towards notable locations.
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You'll know when you reach the end of the trail because it just comes to an abrupt stop.
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Sentinel Cave is the longest cave we'll attempt today. It also has 2 openings, so you don't have to double back over the trail to exit.
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The dirt path is not as well maintained and in someplaces briefly dissappears altogether.
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It's hard to see in this photo, but there's a natural bridge at the Upper Entrance.
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Tricia's headlamp is set on floodlight mode and mine is on spotlight mode.
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This lighting scheme gave us the best chance to light up the cave for photos.
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This is a particularly narrow spot in the trail.
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Whenever there was a dangerous zone metal railing kept you safe.
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What's that up ahead?
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Another one of those barricaded dangerous holes in the floor.
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Most of the path has looked like this so far.
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This is where I turned around to move ROVER down to the Lower Exit of the cave.
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Tricia's on her own now! How long should I wait before I call for help?
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Looks like she made it to the end. Nope, it's just a hole in the roof letting light in.
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There would be several of these towards the end.
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The extra light was sure appreciated for photo taking.
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Another skylight up ahead?
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Nope, this is the end of the 3280' trail. Now it's 100-yards to the parking lot.
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When you're in a strange cave, sunlight is always a welcome sight.
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Time to say goodbye to Sentinel Cave and drive to the next one.
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Merrill Cave used to be an "ice cave" with year round ice at the bottom.
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This one will be a little bit deeper than the previous two we've done so far.
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It immediately starts out with two flights of stairs.
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This is the second longer flight of stairs.
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The bottom here is so filled with rubble there is a flat metal grate to walk on.
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More of that "dripping rock ceiling" look going on in this cave.
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Now it's getting deep and tight.
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There was a large flat platform at the bottom of the stairs.
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From here you could see the cave comes to an end.
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It was plenty cold down here, but no longer cold enough to support ice in August.
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Time to head back up and out of here, it's kind of creepy down here all alone.
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Which brings up the fact that we haven't seen a single other person in any of these caves?
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Ah! It feels good to be in the sunshine, even if it is only 65°F outside.
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Merrill Cave is located about 1-mile from the main road through the park.
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Welcome to Skull Cave, so named because several cow skulls were found deep in the cave.
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Rumour has it that the skulls are still there!
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No "dripping ceiling" here, it's all chuncky lava rock.
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Now that's some pretty interesting looking lava rock.
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Look, this cave has people in it. We recognized them as our campground neighbors.
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Now we have this cave all to ourselves also.
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Down, down, down the trail goes.
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At the bottom is a metal barrier that ends the trail.
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As advertised the cow skulls are still there.
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There's also ice at the bottom of this cave.
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How does that saying go? What goes down must come back up! No, that's not it!
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This is by far the largest cave we've been in today.
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Once again back into the sunlight for our final cave tour of this visit.
Looking for our Visited States Map and Data? How about our State by State Bucket Lists or Visited Campgrounds List? If so, click on the sign below to be taken to our other website.
Wasn't sure if the sunrays would show up in a photo, but it seems they did just fine.
Our next 4-night stop is in the Lava Beds National Monument's Indian Well Campground.
That sign was unnecessary, it's easy to see there are rocks up ahead.
Just up over that ridge is the Visitor Center and the campground.
The elevation here should keep the daytime highs in the mid-80°Fs and lows in the 50°Fs.
We scored a great First-Come-First-Serve site all to ourselves.
There are 43-sites here and only 3 were occupied when we arrived at noon-time.
With the 15-20 MPH breeze and the back hatch open it made the 85°F feel comfortable.
Our batteries are at 100% SOC and Starlink is up and running, what more do we need.
There's plenty of room for others to drive by without clipping our stairs.
The Devils Homestead flow provides an excellent example of chunky and rough "a’a lava".
The 12,000-year old flow from the Medicine Lake Volcano was quite extensive.
Like treads rolling on a tank, the cooling front of the flow fell off
Gillems Camp was an 1873 Army Command Post during the Modoc War with the native tribe.
This rocked in area served as a temporary cemetery for the Army casualties.
This path takes you to higher ground where there was a small Army redoubt. 
The redoubt (a small enclosed military fort or defensive stronghold) was only about 20' round.
The path continued on towards the North Entrance Station for Lava Wells National Moniment.
From there it was a short walk back to where we parked ROVER.
On our way to our next stop we paused along the road to check out these yellow flowers.
The "Smoothstem Blazingstar" can be found all over the American West and British Columbia.
Captain Jack (born Kintpuash, c. 1837 – October 3, 1873) was a leader of the Modoc tribe.
Today Tricia hiked the short trail through Captain Jack's Stronghold.
Captain Jack’s small group of roughly 55 warriors retreated into the natural basalt labyrinth...
...of the Lava Beds National Monument (a.k.a. the "Stronghold"),...
...successfully holding off hundreds of U.S. Army soldiers for months.
Along the short trail there were several small caves.
On the southern horizon looms a tall mountain peak.
That would be the 9772' tall Mount Shasta, some 46-miles away as the crow flies.
Another one of the small shallow caves found here in The Stronghold.
Perhaps that's why the Modoc were able to remain hidden where vastly outnumbered.
Looking north you can see the agricultural area that was once the bottom of Tule Lake.
A little bit further to hike before we're on our way to the next stop.
On the very northern edge of the National Monument property are two wildlife overlooks.
They are actually overlooking the Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge.
The Eastern Overlook is even further away from the shoreline of Tule Lake.
We've been looking forward to visiting this exclave of Lava Beds since seeing it on the map.
Even without any petroglyhs the mountain walls texture was interesting to look at.
The Cliff Swallows have really made this wall into a home for themselves.
Cliff swallows build enclosed, gourd-shaped nests out of more than 1,000 individual mud pellets...
...mixed with their own saliva. Both the male and female scoop mud in their beaks from puddles.
It's obvious that these two rock pillars used to be just one.
Anyway, here are the petroglyphs, don't ask me to decipher them for you!
The sad part is they have to be protected from vandals behind a barbed-wire topped fence.
Out at the SáttÃtla Highlands National Monument is what's called the High Hole Crater.
There is no national Park signage as of yet and maybe never will be.
Just down the road is the Jot Dean Cave in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest.
There were several "lifts" in the lava that was laying around on the surface.
We didn't plan on entering the cave, so we didn't bring headlamps or gloves.
It looks to be a fairly large opening and easy to access.
It could be days or weeks before anyone else checked out this cave if we ran into issues.
Up at the Medicine Lake Rec Area in the day use area is where we found bathrooms.
Off to the right from the Day Use Area is where all 4 of the campgrounds are found.
We took a 17-mile shortcut back to the Lava Beds National Monument from here.
It was all gravel road except for the last 1/4-mile.
As soon as we reached Lava Beds gate we pulled over to check out Mammoth Crater.
As you would expect it was a mammoth sized crater in the ground, a collapsed volcano.
This is similiar to the way crater lake was formed, only on a much larger scale of course.
Directly across the road was the short trail to Hidden Valley, no not the salad dressing.
It defintely was hidden below the surface of the surrounding terrain.
Near the Visitor Center we saw workers piling up dead wood into tipi shapes that will be
By far the easiest cave to explore in the whole park is the Mushpot Cave.
Down 22-steps at the entrance we could see the cooled molten rock "dripping" from the ceiling.
Mushpot Cave is the only cave in the park that is lit 24/7 with electric lights.
The path is well lit the entire way into the cave.
There are floodlights shining upwards towards notable locations.
You'll know when you reach the end of the trail because it just comes to an abrupt stop.
Sentinel Cave is the longest cave we'll attempt today.
The dirt path is not as well maintained and in someplaces briefly dissappears altogether.
It's hard to see in this photo, but there's a natural bridge at the Upper Entrance.
Tricia's headlamp is set on floodlight mode and mine is on spotlight mode.
This lighting scheme gave us the best chance to light up the cave for photos.
This is a particularly narrow spot in the trail.
Whenever there was a dangerous zone metal railing kept you safe.
What's that up ahead?
Another one of those barricaded dangerous holes in the floor.
Most of the path has looked like this so far.
This is where I turned around to move ROVER down to the Lower Exit of the cave.
Tricia's on her own now! How long should I wait before I call for help?
Looks like she made it to the end. Nope, it's just a hole in the roof letting light in.
There would be several of these towards the end.
The extra light was sure appreciated for photo taking.
Another skylight up ahead?
Nope, this is the end of the 3280' trail. Now it's 100-yards to the parking lot.
When you're in a strange cave, sunlight is always a welcome sight.
Time to say goodbye to Sentinel Cave and drive to the next one.
Merrill Cave used to be an "ice cave" with year round ice at the bottom.
This one will be a little bit deeper than the previous two we've done so far.
It immediately starts out with two flights of stairs.
This is the second longer flight of stairs.
The bottom here is so filled with rubble there is a flat metal grate to walk on.
More of that "dripping rock ceiling" look going on in this cave.
Now it's getting deep and tight.
There was a large flat platform at the bottom of the stairs.
From here you could see the cave comes to an end.
It was plenty cold down here, but no longer cold enough to support ice in August.
Time to head back up and out of here, it's kind of creepy down here all alone.
Which brings up the fact that we haven't seen a single other person in any of these caves?
Ah! It feels good to be in the sunshine, even if it is only 65°F outside.
Merrill Cave is located about 1-mile from the main road through the park.
Welcome to Skull Cave, so named because several cow skulls were found deep in the cave.
Rumour has it that the skulls are still there!
No "dripping ceiling" here, it's all chuncky lava rock.
Now that's some pretty interesting looking lava rock.
Look, this cave has people in it. We recognized them as our campground neighbors.
Now we have this cave all to ourselves also.
Down, down, down the trail goes.
At the bottom is a metal barrier that ends the trail.
As advertised the cow skulls are still there.
There's also ice at the bottom of this cave.
How does that saying go? What goes down must come back up! No, that's not it!
This is by far the largest cave we've been in today.
Once again back into the sunlight for our final cave tour of this visit.
