Wildlife and lava beds and country fairs, oh my!

Our second full day we decided to go further afield-pun intended-and deeper into the hot spots of the country, the Lava Beds National Park.  Ho-hum, you might say, and I agree: basically rocks are not my thing, but I am married to a geologist-at-heart and I love him and owe him big-time.  The surprise was the beauty we saw on the way (there is a moral here).

On our way to the lava beds we crossed the state line into California and drove through the  Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuge:

I found out later that the above ‘weed’ is called the tule plant, from which the Native Americans built their canoes, and the reason for the town’s name, Tulelake. 

 This lovely thing is a Great White Egret:

Lava Beds National Monument:

Somewhere in this picture above is this man (below), which gives you a sense of the scale of these lava beds.  I believe he is 1/3 of the way from the left on the center line in the upper photo.

  There are many caves which one can explore but we declined as there is a bat disease going on currently.  And it’s very dark and very cold and wet in them.  Hard hats and hiking boots and jackets and long pants and lighted head gear advised. (I don’t owe him THAT much!)  

  Photo and sample of the tule plant

Details of our anniversary date at the visitor’s center

Leaving the park, we took another back road out to the highway—we hoped… pavement became gravel…    Ponderosas scattered thin

 

We did eventually get to the highway which led us back to the town of Tulelake (which makes Klamath Falls look like a metropolis).  But Tulelake will have its own post tomorrow as it had a sad part in the history of America.  But for today, our outing took us into the annual Tulelake Fair:

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     Old Time Fiddlers

And then on to a really great filet mignon dinner on our way back to the Running Y Ranch!