TIME

Never Stands Still

And like this old gas pump from the 50s where the price per gallon never needed to be expressed in anything more than "cents," everything changes.

Change is coming this way too. Blogging will be light for the next few weeks as I get things moved over to a new site. More news on that soon. 

TULE LAKE #5

Facing East

There is a notable thumb of land, sometimes called the Peninsula, sometimes called Petroglyph Point, or on some maps, Castle Rock. Depending on which side you are on, catches either first or last light. Once surrounded by water, these cliffs are now high and dry.

Look one more time again at the previous picture. Towards the bottom, there is a patch of white with horizontal stripes. In 1917, Charles Coppock, born at the century mark, decided to express his frustration with being underage to join US forces during WW I. The result was this flag, dated August 15, 1917. He rowed out to a nearby spot, anchored a platform and painted what you see above. After 94 years some of the color has faded out.

When Charles Coppock returned to the area to farm, machines replaced the mules his father used. These vintage trucks spanned several decades - 30's, 40's and 50s.

Suffering from hard use, this old Ford still has most of its hardware intact.

Two more old battlewagons, a Ford and Chevy, appear to be more recently retired. Both have their license plates still attached. That is likely a field of young horseradish growing behind the trucks.

In that same early morning light that illustrated the "Flag" (above), a Canadian goose sits high above on a nearby spur of rock. Beyond, cliff swallows pepper the sky as they prepare to nest or feed their young.

TULE LAKE #4

Lava Bed National Monument

This medicine pole, also called a medicine flag, was placed at what is called the Captain Jack Stronghold. This pole was placed by the local Klamath Indians to commemorate what the Modoc Indians did to fend off the US Cavalry many years ago.

This is the northernmost edge of what is known as the Captain Jack Stronghold. Named after the fearless Modoc leader of the same name, this site remains important to Native Americans. Tule Lake was once much bigger. The southern shore touched where the sign in the foreground is and water covered the landscape north and east as far as the distant dark hills. Most of the recovered land is now either part of Lava Bed National Monument, The Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuge or privately farmed.

To give you some understanding of the difficulty that the cavalry had in attempting to oust Captain Jack, this natural trench line was one of many that crisscrossed this patch of hostile lava. This natural fort was good enough, that at first, just 51 Modocs repelled over 300 army & militia soldiers.

This is what is left of a small fort that was garrisoned by troops lead by Major General Edward Canby. Their job was to attempt to corral rebellious Modoc tribal members, including Captain Jack, and put them back on a nearby reservation. For his effort, the general was killed by Captain Jack. This came after an illustrious career established in part by Canby's actions during the Civil War.

Not in many public places can you find a cross without a lawyer attached. This monument is on the Lava Beds National Monument and the inscription is almost as notable as finding a cross on Federal land. It says, "Gen. Canby, USA, was murdered here by the Modocs April 11, 1873". A medicine pole and a cross give testimony to two people who served their respective nations without fear. War is like that, isn't it. Sometimes with great meaning, sometimes meaningless.

TULE LAKE #1

First It's About Farming

Like the Fall River Valley, many in the Tule Lake area make a living on what water provides. As the names suggests, one gets water from rivers and the other from a lake. Delivery of Tule Lake water comes via irrigation pipes (above).

From 1908 to 1930 one of the larger bodies of water in a chain of lakes was dredged and converted to farmland. That would be Tule Lake, which is considered a part of the Upper Klamath Basin. This drainage covers portions of California and Oregon.

All that reclaimed farmland has been generous with its bounty. Besides grain, the area produces potatoes, sugar beets and alfalfa. A sizable amount of horseradish is grown here too. On a summer day, the aroma coming from a field of this leafy rootstock is wonderfully aromatic and not at all suggestive of the taste.

I found the interior of this John Deere dealer in nearby Merrill, Oregon, to be full of farm machinery antiques. It's a little hard to see but who knew there were so many different and collectable versions of tractor seats.

Though 100 miles removed from the Fall & Pit River areas previously mentioned, there is still a common denominator - Mt. Shasta. Away from the lake itself, things are not so green - much more the arid landscape. 40 air miles away and 700' higher, the desert defines the landscape as much as the mountain does.

FALL RIVER MILLS AREA

Why Folks Live Here

The breathtaking silence of a Mt. Shasta sunset.

A heavenly Lassen sunrise.

Bountiful farmlands.

Appreciation of history.

Last but not least for visitors: classic guest lodging and good eats.

CALIFORNIA DISCOVERY #1

The Pit River Valley

Though we'd been through a portion of this far northeast corner of California before, it turns out we really hadn't seen more than what driving on a through highway allowed. Until now. Two big valleys, several spectacular waterfalls and a host of natural and man made wonders were waiting be discovered. Above is the first of two large valleys - the Pit River Valley. The basin is a blend of farming and timber, with logging being the bigger industry. The valley sits within sight of both Lassen (to the south) and Shasta (to the northwest).

 Above is Burney Falls. Beginning as a spring that percolates up through the lava, Burney Creek delivers 10,000,000 gallons every day, all year long. The water eventually reaches the Pit River. The Pit accounts for 80% of the flow of the Sacramento River.

Like so many public places that were developed during the Depression era, the Civilian Conservation Corp was charged with dressing up many State and Federal park lands. This was originally built to house the earliest McArthur-Burney Falls State Park custodian.

Goldfish? No, Albino Rainbow Trout. However genetics happen, fish like these, when found, are kept from breeding. There were a half dozen of these unique trout at the Crystal Lake Fish Hatchery.

Though Crystal Lake has been around since 1927, it isn't considered an old timer. Not far away was the Hat Creek Fish Hatchery built in 1887 to originally raise salmon. In 1915 the eruption of Mt. Lassen threw enough mud and debris that it knocked out the remaining run of salmon and for years greatly diminished the trout population. 

The unusually colored horse (near black and pure white) caught my eye first. Then mama moved and the little colt came into view. The big hand of time seems to move a bit slower in this charmingly rural part of California.

THE CLOISTER

The Abbey of New Clairvaux

Though "out of bounds" for the general public, wildlife, like the monks of this Catholic order, get full run of the grounds. 

The Monastery is located in Vina, California. So small of a town, the odds are that you'll have to hit the link to find out where this is.

A portion of the land that the monastery occupies once belonged to Leland Stanford, founder of the university of that same name. Though many of the buildings (above) that Stanford erected are on the monastery grounds, it isn't Stanford that is more connected to the Monastery. It is William Randolph Hearst.

Years ago, as Hearst was building his empire and his legacy structures, he came across a decrepit 13th century Spanish Chapter House (another former Cistercian monastery). In 1931 he dismantled it and brought the stones to California, intending it for a grand estate near Shasta. The Depression overtook Hearst's ambition and the stones were used instead to pay the City of San Francisco in lieu of taxes owed. For 60 years they sat in Golden Gate park. In 1994 they were given to the Abbey of Clairvaux. It has been a long struggle by the Monastery to use the stones as intended (above).

Though Hearst made detailed notes when the buildings were taken apart, the instructions and the stones were in deteriorated condition when reclaimed. The stones are around 900 years old and there are few masons today that have the kind of knowledge of the masonry methods used in the Middle Ages. There is also the issue of money. Since I was here last, they have instituted a new program "Sacred Stones", which they hope will provide the energy and money to move the project along.

All around the grounds are a wide variety of flowers. It is a place of great natural beauty.

 In the year 2,000 the monks returned to Leland Stanford first use of the land: they planted their own vineyard and are working to produce several varieties of red and white wines. As Benjamin Franklin said: "Wine is constant proof that God loves and and wants to see us happy." Perhaps the good Cistercian monks of Clairvaux would say to that: "Amen!"

DUNCANS MILLS 2

The Charm

There were few stores in this small town but nearly all were geared for the tourist. 

The window of this shop really caught my eye as the array of tea pots on view were intricately colorful.

This barn is the only remaining structure from the mill at Duncans Mills, now used as a meeting room at the RV park.

An unadvertised draw to this little corner of the world is the placid Russian River. 

Spring was underway in Duncans Mills. I certainly recognize the wild azaleas at right but was stumped by the colorful blossom in the planter at right. Looked a little like a Christmas ornament.

 This climbing vine hadn't yet gotten the word that Spring was here.

Read the sign. Smile. This little bit of whimsy was down the road in another small town: Monte Rio.

DUNCANS MILLS 1

Old California

First a part of a large Mexican land grant, the town was founded not long after Alexander Duncan arrived in 1877 to began a sawmill operation. By the 1880s there were two hotels, a saloon, a meat market, blacksmith and livery stables and this general store.

With the lumber mill came the railroad. Duncans Mills became the funnel through which hundreds of thousands of board feet of redwood lumber were loaded aboard trains that followed the hills and creek beds down to waiting ships in San Francisco Bay.

For almost 60 years trains hauled freight (and passengers) to the the terminal in Sausalito. We sure don't think of Sausalito as being a railroad town, as trendy as it is now. The ledger in the foreground recorded the daily flow of rail traffic and the old fashioned phones at left kept the stationmasters in touch with each other and the outside world. It had to be a pretty busy place with three telephones.

Served by the North Pacific Coast Railroad and its unusually colored cabooses, the owners began building a narrow gauge steam line in 1874. It reached Duncans Mills not long after the mill opened. In 1902 new owners, at what must have been at great expense, transformed the track to standard gauge and installed powerlines to serve new electric engines. Redwood lumber remained the dominant item of freight. Since shutting down in in the 1930s, all of the right-of-way eventually became abandoned. The line stretched 93 miles to the Bay - what a wonderfully scenic journey it must have been as a passenger.

EEL RIVER

 It's A R'eel' Place 

Home to rock eating river serpents,

Herbivorous titans,

And home to a beautifully colored blue rock just waiting to be noticed.

A real bonus to our campground on the Eel was that we had the river to ourselves.

 It might have just been another place to layover but it was full of treasures to be found and shared. 

FLOWING SANDS

Shifting Light

This was not the only photographer out at dawn to shoot the Mesquite Sand Dunes. 

I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the several dozen shooters out early. I was one of them.

As the light changes, so does the color.
The little dots are other photographers that got up earlier than I did to climb out onto the dunes.

The geometry of a sand dune features ever changing patterns within patterns.