The Sign by Canby's Cross, a Sign of Our Times

Canby's Cross in Lava Beds National Monument marks the spot where fell the only general killed in the Indian Wars. A sign next to it explains that the cross is a replica of an original erected by a U.S. soldier in 1882.

Not leaving good enough alone, the sign continues:

"Although the inscription on the cross may elicit strong emotions in some modern visitors, it illuminates the point that people see events through the lens of their own culture and time. In 1873, what some Modocs considered a justifiable war tactic, the U.S. Army considered murder. No monument commemorates the places where Modocs may have felt their attempts to live peaceably were betrayed.

More than any other Modoc War site, Canby Cross represents the vast gulf between the perceptions of the two sides during wartime, and challenges us to look beyond history to the assumptions of our own cultures. As in all wars, there were no innocent parties in this conflict."

Could the folks at the Park Service please just present the facts about the Modoc War and let us draw our own conclusions? I can't recall in any of my visits to a Civil War historical site being asked by the Park Service to look beyond history to the assumptions of my own culture.

(And, true, there are no monuments to the Modoc places, but there are plenty of sympathetic PBS documentaries.)

For those readers new to the Modoc War, here are a few facts. General Canby met the Modoc Indians under a flag of truce to discuss peace terms. The Modoc leader Captain Jack, spurred on by some in his group, drew a revolver and shot General Canby. The Modocs thought that by killing the leader of the enemy, the enemy would withdraw from the battlefield. The Modocs killed another peace commissioner, Reverend Eleazar Thomas, and wounded a third, before withdrawing to their stronghold in the Lava Beds.

Okay, I get it. From the Modoc viewpoint, killing General Canby would end the war. But they were wrong, terribly wrong. Their killing of General Canby totally deflated the peace argument touted by the liberals in the Northeast (have things changed so much from those days?) and put the war hawks in charge. The Modocs were now at the mercy of a very angry Federal Government. Things did not turn out well for them.

The Modoc War presents an incredible story, far too complex to detail here. It contains real villains on both sides, as well as heroes. People on both sides made terrible decisions. Innocents on both sides died. The vanquished suffered terribly. Had the very events of the Modoc War occurred in ancient Greece, perhaps we would be reading the history in a tragedy by Aeschylus. But instead, in these politically-correct times, we get the story from insipid words such as those on the sign next to Canby's Cross. This is the history we give our kids. Can any schoolchild be blamed for being bored out of their skull in history class?

Blah Blah Blah Blah

The Lava Tubes

"Descend, bold traveler, into the crater of the jokul of Sneffels,
which the shadow of Scartaris touches before the kalends of July, and
you will attain the centre of the earth; which I have done, Arne
Saknussemm." - Jules Verne, Journey to the Center of the Earth

The hike starts normal enough. A well defined path, some rocky spots requiring attentive footwork. But soon you're walking stooped over. You see optional routes. Which one to choose? You're stooping even more, until you're moving forward on hands and knees. More routes are offered. If you're really adventurous, you choose a route where you crawl on your belly. You're in a lava tube. Most likely a maze of tubes. Stay low so you don't bump your head. Remember your route because it's easy to become disoriented - you may be going further into the tube when you think you're heading out. And if you're hiking alone, bring spare light sources, because inside a lava tube it's very, very dark.

The tube began with the eruption of a volcano. The lava flowed downhill. Here and there the sides and top of the flow solidified while the lava inside continued to flow. The eruption ended and the lava ran out, leaving an empty space behind it - the tube. Or, the maze of tubes, as the flows moved in and out of each other, or branched off on their own.

Time passes. The volcano erupts again. The lava tube creation process begins anew. A new level of lava tubes rests atop the previous. The volcano erupts again and again. The landscape becomes honeycombed with lava tubes. One day the roof of a lava tube on the uppermost layer gives way, the rocks hitting the floor in a thunderous crash, and sunlight enters.

Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California contains the largest concentration of lava tubes in North America - more than 700 discovered caves, of which 22 are developed for hiking. The area contains such a variety of igneous features that it attracts geology students (and those with an amateur interest in geology) from far and wide. The lava flows played a role in history. In the 1870s, the Modoc Indians retreated from the Army to this natural fortress. Today one can walk the sites of the Modoc War: where the Army laid siege to the Modoc warriors and their families; where the Modocs almost wiped out an Army patrol; and where the only general in the Indian Wars was killed.

The volcanic activity comes from subduction. The Juan de Fuca and Gorda oceanic plates are sliding under the lighter continental plate. The subduction is creating the Cascade Range which runs from Northern California to British Columbia. (The same subduction process, from a different oceanic plate long ago, created the ancestral Sierra and the granitic plutons of the modern Sierra.) Northern California has several active volcanoes. In my teens I met an elderly man from Tehama County who saw the 1915 eruption of Mount Lassen. The flows in Lava Beds National Monument come from Medicine Lake Volcano to the south. Medicine Lake Volcano, a shield volcano built up one eruption at a time, is the largest volcano in the Cascade Range. An eruption about 1,000 years ago formed Glass Mountain. Yes, a mountain of glass - a massive flow of pumice with large blocks of obsidian. Years ago I walked at the edge of its barren and crunchy surface. Eruptions around Medicine Lake Volcano will continue. The lava tubes so popular with tourists will someday be covered with another layer of lava.

Lava Beds National Monument was created in 1925. During the Depression, the Civilian Conservation Corps developed most of the trails used today. The area had plenty of visitors before this. These visitors did things that would make any park ranger cringe. They dropped rocks and garbage down the Fleener Chimneys vents just to see how far they would fall, until the vents were filled. They removed war artifacts from the battlefields and the grounds where the Modocs stayed under siege. They broke formations off the walls and ceilings of the lava tubes. Today the Park Service rangers enforce the rules that help give the Monument a somewhat primitive feel despite the number of visitors.

I went this past week, in the off season, before school lets out and vacationing families will come in. Many sites in Indian Well Campground were unoccupied.

Oftentimes I was the only person inside a lava tube. I was curious about people getting lost in a lava tube, or stuck in a tight spot. Upon my return I emailed a query to a park ranger about this. Here was the response:

"It is very rare that Lava Beds Rangers have to conduct search and rescue operations in the park. I am not aware of any incidents in which a visitor got stuck nor one in which all light sources failed. Occasionally visitors have difficulty navigating some of the more complex caves (Golden Dome Cave, Labyrinth/Lava Brook Cave System, Hercules Leg/Juniper Cave System). However, they typically find their way out after no more than an hour or two, either on their own or with the help of other visitors. There have been a few instances in which visitors have been lost for an extended period of time (up to 36 hours). Theses incidents have only occurred in Catacombs Cave, by far the most challenging developed cave in the monument."

I did a little more research and found this newspaper article about two school girls lost in Catacombs Cave for more than 27 hours in 2004.

I know how easy it is to get turned around in the maze of tubes. On this trip, I got bewildered in two lava tubes. On a trip many years ago I was hiking out of a tube, only to encounter two others heading towards me who were hiking out of the tube. I had gotten myself turned around and was actually hiking into the tube. And I must admit that, five minutes after realizing I was disoriented alone in a tube, I've had that little bell go off in my head, that "uh-oh" thought.

(Maps of the developed tubes are sold in the Visitor Center, but a map would take the adventure out of my exploration.)

And there are the low spots. On this trip I didn't go anywhere requiring more than a deep crouch. But years ago, in what tube I can't remember, I was walking along, the ceiling getting lower and lower, the walls perhaps fifteen feet apart, until I reached an area where the ceiling height was slightly under waist level. Not a tight squeeze by lava tube standards, with some openings one foot high. I shined my flashlight down the tube. I saw that the ceiling remained at this height for some twenty feet, and then it rose to where I could walk upright. The floor of the tube was smooth. I removed my daypack and got on my belly. I cradled the daypack strap in one elbow while holding my flashlight in my other hand, and I crawled through that opening. The ceiling rose and soon I was upright, and I continued on. I did this alone. I don't think anyone else was in the tube.

Those with the proper training and equipment take on the undeveloped lava tubes. For us casual visitors, the developed tubes in Lava Beds National Monument offer a pleasant little adventure.

Natural Bridge Cave, with my truck

Sunshine Cave

A small opening in Hercules Leg Cave

Balcony Cave

Boulevard Cave, another small opening

Loch Leven Trail

Temperatures in the nineties in the Sacramento Valley are driving hikers to higher elevations in the Sierra. Today I hiked a very popular trail, the Loch Leven Trail, which starts near Interstate 80, at an elevation of 5,680 feet. I arrived early, before eight o'clock, to avoid the crowds, and only a few vehicles were in the small parking lot. When I returned a few hours later, the lot was full and vehicles were parked in any available space nearby.

The trail was covered in snow just a few weeks ago. Patches of snow were still about. Water from snowmelt ran down some sections of the trail. Several large trees felled by the weight of snow over the winter lay across the trail. They will eventually be cleared.

The elevation gain is only 1,070 feet. The rocks and tree roots on the trail add some difficulty to the hike, particularly on the descent. There is a bit of scrambling in places. A hiking staff helps with stability.

The geology is interesting. The trail crosses the boundary between two rocks. The rock in the Rattlesnake Creek Pluton is granodiorite, a relative of granite, and is 120 million years old. This rock intruded as magma into the older Jurassic volcanic arc rock (Early Jurassic, about 200 million years old) during a subduction process. This pluton was essentially a large blob of molten rock that moved upward from the subduction zone far below. The magma followed fractures and melted overlying rock. Some magma reached the surface and erupted as volcanoes. But most stayed five to ten miles underground in a large chamber, and slowly cooled to leave the crystals in the rock we see today.

Where I stood on the granodiorite, the rock went several miles below me, and it once went several miles overhead. What eroded came to rest in what is now the Sacramento Valley.

There is no distinct line between the Cretaceous granodiorite and the Jurassic terrane rock. The two slowly melded together until one gave way to the other.

I continued up the trail, crossing the railroad tracks, the original ones being built by the Chinese for the Transcontinental Railroad. Further up I encountered snow. I scrambled about trees fallen across the trail. I passed granodiorite outcrops polished and scraped by glaciers. I passed the first two Loch Leven lakes and had lunch at the third.

 

A wonderful day in the Sierra.

My Nephew Looks for Gold in Placer County

At Giant Gap, looking northeast to Euchre Bar,
the crest of the Sierra shrouded in clouds

 

View of Giant Gap from Iron Point,
ready to hike to Euchre Bar

My nephew came to visit for two weeks in late March and early April. As with his visit last year, he wanted to look for gold. I accompanied him on some trips, and when I worked he went alone. All trips were to the North Fork American River, save for a few unproductive hours on the Bear River near Colfax. He camped three days at Mineral Bar Campground, where the Colfax-Iowa Hill Road crosses the North Fork. We hiked Stevens Trail from the Colfax trailhead to the river near Secret Ravine. We made two hikes from Iron Point to Euchre Bar, and panned at two spots near the bridge. The first spot produced no gold, the second spot was good. My nephew took a third hike alone on Euchre Bar Trail, to the spot where we panned last year. And by saying alone I mean he was likely the only person in the canyon, for he saw no other vehicles parked at the trailhead that weekday.

On one day when the rain was intermittent, we did no gold panning but instead went to Moody Ridge and Giant Gap, where we had spectacular views of the North Fork.

 

My nephew had 1.3 grams of gold from his 2012 and 2013 visits. As I write this, the price of gold is $47.51/gram, giving the found gold a value of $61.76. Which is why this is called recreational gold panning. The days when the first argonauts up the North Fork scooped tin cups full of gold from the riverbed are long gone.

 

 



Stevens Trail Wildflowers

With the rising temperatures and recent rainfall, the wildflowers are starting to bloom in Northern California. Today I left my gold pan at home and brought only my camera to Stevens Trail. The parking lot at the trailhead by Colfax was almost full.

Today was a preview. I hear the color peaks out in the next weeks, so I'll make return trips.

There were a few patches of wildflowers on the south facing slopes. Once I passed the patches I had the ordinary everyday views of Stevens Trail such as below. These ordinary everyday views make the North Fork of the American River spectacular.

I left the main trail to explore a level area by the river. The little wear on the path showed few people went there. During the Gold Rush and the Depression many miners camped in this area. I found a piece of what may have been a ceramic jug. Did it date to the Gold Rush itself? I left it where I found it.

I ended at the spot where I had panned for gold these past weeks. The water level had not risen much. I took the overview photo below from atop a slate outcrop. I looked down and saw some grinding holes. These were made over many centuries by Nisenan women, as they ground seeds into meal.

On the return hike, the California golden poppies were starting to open up in the warmth of the noonday sun.

I reached my truck and drove to Colfax Cemetery, a short distance from the trailhead, to pay my respects to Truman Stevens, builder of Stevens Trail. He left Camden, Maine in 1859 and crossed Panama to reach the California gold country. He made his living charging a toll on the trail named for him. He died in 1884.

First Hike of the Year on Euchre Bar Trail

Normally Euchre Bar Trail is my first good hike of the year, done when my legs are out of shape, and following the 1.25 mile walk with its 1,800ft elevation gain out of the canyon, I feel it in the leg muscles the next day. But today's hike was different. I could have walked back to the truck without stopping had I wanted - and at a good pace. Three reasons: 1) I've hiked Stevens Trail several times these past weeks, so my leg muscles are in shape; 2) I was well hydrated; and 3) I used a new Osprey pack that put the weight on my hips. My Jansport pack put the weight on my shoulders. Also, the Osprey pack sat close to my back. The difference in the weight distribution was noticable, making for a much more pleasant hike.

Today's hike was just exploratory, no gold pan brought along, I wanted to check the river level. More hikes to follow.

Black Bears and Cougars and Ticks, Oh My!

The North and Middle Forks of the American River have black bears and cougars, but the creature to fear on a hike is the lowly tick carrying Lyme disease. While the black bear and the cougar generally want to avoid an encounter with humans, the tick wants to latch on at any time.

A canyon trail is a thin ribbon surrounded by vast tracts of land that people rarely enter. Consider the spot on Stevens Trail where the mountain lion was killed last month. This was near the town of Colfax. Stevens Trail is a very popular hiking trail in the Sacramento area. Families with small children use it. People stick to the trail and rarely venture beyond it. There's little reason to stray from the trail - the hillsides are steep and full of trees and brush, and the river is the goal of the hike. So the trail has many hikers on weekends, fewer on weekdays, and is quiet at night. Nearby in the woods lives the mountain lion. It keeps away from the trail during the day, perhaps uses it at night, and upon hearing the rare human in the forest it quietly goes in the other direction.

Remember as you're hiking the canyons that you're in something else's territory. But since the likelihood of being attacked by a bear or a mountain lion is very, very low, enjoy the hike. Just check yourself for ticks, you don't want to get Lyme disease.