A place in America where ice freezes under hot volcanic rocks

Travel is all about the unexpected and the revealing. Today Masayo and I found ourselves in an obscure, out-of-the-way destination called Lava Beds National Monument. We were bowled over by a crazy land whose harsh charms beckoned us away from the modern world we know and toward a realm where we might reflect upon and commune with the fiery forces that created and still churn the Earth.

And you’d never suspect a place this fascinating to be hidden in such a barren, uneventful-looking part of far-flung northern California. But if you put in the effort, and steer your car down enough small two- or one-lane roads folded between hot, desolate hills, you’ll uncover some rewarding nuggets heretofore undreamt of.

My blood sugar was 226 when I woke up. Not sure why since it was so good for most of yesterday but I dutifully took my shot and had breakfast, hoping that things would be (mostly) good today again. And they were; that would be my last reading that begins with a “2” today.

Lava Beds finally welcomed us after a long drive down strips of asphalt with no painted lines in its own arch fashion: as Masayo and I got out of the car and stepped into the summer heat to take photos at the welcome sign, swarms of bees surrounded us and dared us to keep snapping away. We got our photos, but the message was clear: “Welcome to Lava Beds. You’re playing by our rules now.”

Having hopped (unbitten) back into the car and made it to the visitor center, we learned about the layout of the Monument and what we might be able to do without having to take long hikes through the sun-baked rock-strewn fields.

Lava Beds NM is full of caves, and many of them are open for those wishing to hike underground. Besides that are huge and endless stretches of scenic land, mountains at the perimeters and burnt black and orange rocks held in place by hardy little plants peeking up from between them.

We first found a spot for lunch: in the car, food spread out across the dashboard, near a place called Catacombs on a small paved loop on a plateau behind the visitor center. My blood sugar had by now calmed down somewhat, to 178. The lunch was excellent; I’ve been impressed by the variety and quality of healthy-ish foods in American supermarkets. Fresh fruit with cottage cheese, English muffins with cactus jelly we bought in Texas, hummus, carrots and celery and broccoli and tomatoes, and cookies. Lovely.

Our main activity in Lava Beds was a hike into one of the only ice caves open to the public with a path and handrails, Skull Ice Cave. While the temperature outside was in the upper 90s, literally each step further into the cave brought cooler air. Masayo and I were both wearing our camping headlamps because there is no lighting inside the cave and it gets pitch black quickly.

The walk isn’t long to get to the icy interior of the cave, especially since the main ice part is currently closed to the public because foot traffic was damaging the ecosystem inside. But it’s still a thrill to struggle down the ice-cold metal staircases and find yourself at the bottom, in the unseemly quiet and still darkness. The hot and sunny world you left just a few minutes ago now seems so far away.

A large chain link fence blocks further progress so Masayo shivered patiently while I tried to set up my tripod to get some photos of the icy cave floor using my headlamp as illumination. (At least she was wearing a jacket; I was in short sleeves despite the temperature being about 60º cooler down here.)

Focusing and framing is hard in these circumstances, and my frozen photo session was delayed by the unexpected arrival of a young couple behind us. The woman was carrying a baby in a front sling who seemed to be taking this bizarre experience totally in stride. An inspiration, I thought. That kid’s gonna grow up a hardy traveler, I can tell already.

I did what I could photographically and we were ready to climb the stairs and find our way back to the outside world. My hands were freezing by the time we emerged into the heat, which I couldn’t actually feel for about ten minutes as we drove down the road that meanders through the lava fields. It’s a strange feeling, shivering with goosebumps when it’s 95º outside. But strange feelings are why you travel.

After an aborted hike through an area called Captain Jack’s Stronghold, where we couldn’t find the shorter loop and where Masayo began feeling lightheaded due to the day’s many unusual exertions, we made it to the far edge of Lava Beds National Monument and a high wall with old petroglyphs on it. I left Masayo to nod off in the air-conditioned car to go take a look, and despite signs everywhere with reproductions of the rock art above my head, I scanned and scanned every surface but never saw them. Oh well.

From there it was down a few late-afternoon California highways and into the first actual new state for me on this trip, Oregon. When we got to our room in Klamath Falls (which turns out to be an actual apartment with a full kitchen) my blood sugar was a perfect 111. Sometimes even obstinate diabetes knows not to ruin a great day. (After pizza and before bed it was 121. Wow.)

For now, the volcanic part of the trip is over but little-known Lassen Volcanic National Park yesterday and its even more obscure but memorable sibling Lava Beds National Monument have been unbelievable. When you travel you always think, “Garsh, I would like to come back here someday and see it some more.” And usually you don’t end up actually doing that. But I have a feeling I’ll be back in Lava Beds NM someday. There’s so much to see and it’s all so astonishing.

And it’s not easy – part of getting the most out of a place like Lava Beds is that it’s hard to get to and hard to endure once you’re there. Paradise!

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