Cave sloped waterfall of Solid Ice in Lava Tube

I'm inside Jot Dean Cave on the way to Medicine Lake in Northern California. Everything black on the bottom of the photo is literally a black ice waterfall several inches deep going down at least a 25 degree angle so it is very dangerous. However, there are these rocks you can see frozen into it that are so strongly attached into it that you can use them as solid hand and feet holds. You can also see the gray looking stuff that stretches to the ceiling on the left. That is solid ice too that likely stays there year around in the underground lava tube ice cave. Just past the vertical ice to the ceiling the underground climbers with headlamps are descending past the ice another 30 to 40 feet down another labyrinth that they said was incredibly beautiful but also sort of dangerous.  . They   were completely amazed at what they found there.

This

is looking out the entrance to the Lava tube Ice cave. You can see the snow on the rocks at the entrance to the cave if you look carefully outside.

 If you look carefully at this photo there are 2 to 3 foot long icicles hanging from the ceiling. This is one of the first things you notice upon entering the cave. Outside, even though the snow was on the ground at the entrance to the cave the temperature was likely in the 50s up to 61 degrees at this time.

However, inside the cave it stays around 28 to 30 degrees year around. So, you have to be dressed for it with a headlamp or flashlight, warm clothes and boots for climbing down into it further. Likely some of the drips off these icicles helped form the ice waterfall that starts about where the icicles are below them about 10 feet or more in altitude. 

Though I have been in many different Lava Tubes around the mountain even at Lava Beds National Monument this cave (jot dean Cave) near Medicine lakes (I think it is around 9 to 16 miles before you get to Medicine lake). This cave is one of the more impressive ones I have visited in the Mt. Shasta Vicinity. Medicine lake area is one of the largest volcanic areas in the U.S. After studying about this I found that the medicine lake because of the type of rock that comes out periodically in magma (lava) is more like what you find in Hawaii on the Big Island. Whereas Mt. Shasta itself is a different kind of lava that forms mountains whereas the Medicine Lake magma tends to flow out horizontally and make lava tubes over a very large area (200 square miles).

To get there:

First of all you should be an out of doors sort of person and good at naviagation to do this.

2nd: you need to take enough food and water on this journey. 

The easiest and fastest way likely is to go to Bartle (from either direction) on Hiway 89 either from Interstate 5 near the little city of Mt. Shasta or over 89 from the other direction. Hiway 89 the other direction winds and turns a really long way all the way to Truckee. So, unless you have a couple of days time and really love nature, likely you are going to be coming from Interstate 5 to Bartle. Then you go up towards Pilgrim Creek Road up Edson Creek Access Road I believe.

But, I would have a really good paper map because cell phone coverage might be really sketchy out towards jot dean cave. The other thing is there are no gas stations or really anything much but nature and ice caves for about 50 miles or more(or until you return to Bartle). Medicine lake is nice to visit too.

Also, it is possible to drive from Bartle passed the Ice Caves and all the way into Lava Beds National monument. But likely you want a 4 wheel drive even though the road is paved most of the way when I went across there often were chuck holes. And you likely couldn't do this at all in the winter because it would be closed at some point from snow.

When I went I was really grateful I'm fairly expert in turning around in snow without getting stuck. What I did was go as far as I could in my 4 wheel drive Truck which is a 3 year old Toyota Tundra. Then I told everyone to make sure they weren't going to get whiplash so I backed up fast and suddenly snapped the wheel to the right which caused my truck to travel sideways down the paved road covered with snow. I was very lucky because it only took me three tries to turn around. You don't want to get stuck in snow 50 miles from the nearest person without cell phone service with several people in your vehicle.

On Google Maps it says it is 1 hour and 12 minutes from Bartle Lodge in McCloud, California to Medicine Lake. Jot Dean Cave and many more mostly unmarked (except when you see them) are along the way. Likely Jot Dean cave is somewhere between 3/4 of the way to Medicine lake or closer.

And remember you can't get to Medicine Lake except by snowmobile, snowshoes, cross country skis or helicopter in the winter.