First stop today was the Shasta Dam, that was built between 1938 and 1945 to create Lake Shasta. We were able to walk out to the middle of the dam and marvel at this structure, the 2nd largest dam in the US after the Grand Coulee dam in Washington. From the dam we also had distant views of Mt Shasta, 50 miles away. Here’s a picture of the dam with Mt Shasta in the faaaar distance….



Here’s a closer view of Mt. Shasta….


Mt. Shasta is 14,162 ft high and is an old volcano.

From Mt. Shasta we entered a high desert like area en route to the Lava Beds National Park where we visited Captain Jack’s Stronghold. At this site Captain Jack, a Modoc Indian, and 60 braves along with women and children held off 600 US troops for 5 months. The Modoc’s had been driven from the land by settlers and forced into a reservation in Oregon where they starved and clashed with other Indian nations on the reservation. Captain Jack led his followers to the lava outcropping on the shores of Lake Tula and used the natural fortress to his full advantage. Here’s a couple of photos of the both of us at the Stronghold…



After visiting the Stronghold we went to Petroglyph Point which has the largest collection of native Indian petroglyphs, rock paintings/carvings, in California. The cliff used to be at the edge of Lake Tula and the Indians would paddle up to it in their canoes and then do their painting/carvings. The lake has shrunk over the last 100 years as farmers have reclaimed the land for growing crops. The lake is the remnants of water from glaciers in the last ice age, 10,000 years ago.

Tomorrow we visit Crater Lake and end up by the Pacific Ocean in Bandon, OR.