Thursday, May 7, 2015--Alturas, CA to Klamath Falls, OR--Lava Beds National Monument

We left Alturas, CA this morning at 7:45. The temperature was 34 degrees with a cold wind. It was sunny and we still had the remains of last night's dust storm blowing more dust.

We made our way through some beautiful and ever-changing country on our way north,

with blooming balsam root,

the base of cloud-covered Mount Shasta,

into sagebrush country.

Driving on a less-travelled road back into forest we were completely surprised to find a pair of Lewis Woodpeckers flitting around in this juniper tree

and then we were dumb-founded when a Northern Goshawk flew by and then stopped to watched us from a very distant perch

We approached  Lava Beds National Monument on the way to Tule Lake NWR,  and this cinder cone was the first sign of it.

The visitors center featured wonderfully helpful staff. We hadn't realized that this park has the most lava caves of any other area in the country. Not that a person who is afflicted with claustrophobia looks for caves to enter. But the ranger assured us that we needed to visit 2 very safe and easy caves.

Paul and Sofie at the visitor's center

So equipped with hats and borrowed flashlights Paul and I walked the short trail to our first lava cave.

The temperature was still in the 30's, so we were glad for our warm coats and wool hats. The hat did double-duty as a "hard hat". It was less than successful, so for the next cave I added my floppy birding hat

There were very sturdy metal stairs with hand-railings

The paved path was well-lit all the way for the 770 foot long cave

A flash photo shows the inside of the cave which was exactly the right length--we were glad to turn around and get out of there!

Topside a Western Scrub-Jay welcomed us back

I am always excited to see Indian Paintbrush flowers, so stopped for a photo.

Indian Paintbrush blossoms are some of our very favorites

With the cold wind all day, we were not surprised to see fresh snow in the distance. All our time in the park registered 41 degrees.

We walked a half mile to this arch above an ice cave

In the tree across the chasm above the arch sat this mystery bird

We finally located a nest nearby and determined it was a family of Cassin's Finches, like the mystery bird above

A Western Bluebird

I'm heading down into our second cave experience--down, down, down

This is Paul as we entered the second cave, ominously called "Skull Cave". This cave had no lights except the flashlights we carried. It had lots and lots and lots of sturdy metal staircases. The metal railings got colder and colder as we went down the stairs deeper into the darkness.

This cave is a remnant of three very large lava tubes, one on top of the other. This allows cold winter air to be trapped inside and create a year-round ice floor on the lower level.

At the bottom of the cave, the floor was ice and remains ice year-round. It was exceedingly cold down there, but very interesting. This cave was the right length at 580 feet, and I was glad to exit as fast as safety permitted. Although we enjoyed the experience and were glad to have seen it all, we do not need to go in another cave for a long time!

Lava beds with Tule Lake NWR in the distance

This Golden-crowned Sparrow was at the Tule Lake NWR Visitor's Center

along with this Bullock's Oriole

We've settled for the night in Klamath Falls, Oregon. We drove 121 miles today. Tomorrow we reverse directions and go south back to Tule Lake and Lower Klamath NWR in California to take the auto tours--this was the closest motel. We planned to see both refuges today, but got side-tracked on the Lava Beds which came first on the road! We met another birder at the headquarters who assured us the auto tours were well worth visiting!