Lava Beds National Monument

Another ‘cold hands’ morning – it was only 43F (6 C). The warm coffee and breakfast felt really good. We left the park around 9:00 heading south, via Klamath Falls to Lava Beds National Monument. We weren’t sure where we would go after that but probably further west towards IH 5 to get situated for exploring more of northern California.

Sunday morning, so traffic was light and the towns seemed pretty deserted. A relaxing and mellow ride to the Lava Beds. We toured the park and had lunch there with stuff we bought earlier at a grocery store in Klamath Falls.

There was more to the national monument than I expected. They offered guided cave tours or you could explore on your own. Interesting area. Formerly a huge lake that was drained early in the 20th century and converted to farm land. As some of the pictures show this is a high desert plateau at about 4000 feet where water is scarce. They have extreme heat and cold. The hills have some trees but also lots of sage bushes. We took our time looking at the exhibits and the various pull-outs along the park road.

Originally we planned to take a southerly route out of the park but it turns out one of the roads isn’t paved so we got alternative directions from visitor center staff. The little town of Weed along IH 5 was our destination. Stayed in a hotel by the freeway. Tomorrow – exploring some back roads.

Todays route.