FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2014
Added Thursday June 25th 2020: This was a really fun trip that you can usually make between the months of June or July to August or September depending upon when it snows there. For example, the paved road could be covered by snow at any point between October and May or June of any year potentially. Also, this is very remote and at least 34 miles to the nearest gas station or any civilization at all and there is usually no cell phone signal here at all. So, unless you have a satellite phone and a Battery operated GPS locator this isn't something that all people should do unless they are comfortable in survival situations if anything goes wrong.
Also, you need to take USGS forest service maps so you can locate roads because they aren't really well marked either. So, if you get lost out there you are pretty much on your own. While I was at Jot Dean Cave I saw maybe 5 to 10 cars and trucks all day out in this region. The reason you need to take physical maps is that your cell phone likely isn't going to work there even for maps unless the map is resident on your cell phone and works without cell phone service in this area. But, when I brought up Google Maps just now I was able to get that Bartle to Jot Dean Cave was 34 miles. end note added June 25th 2020.
A return to Jot Dean Cave
WHEN WE WENT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN THROUGH MT. SHASTA SUBDIVISION AND PICKED UP A FRIEND OF OURS WHO HAS LIVED THERE SINCE 1972 WE FIRST WENT UP TOWARD COLD CREEK AND CLEAR CREEK UP ON THE MOUNTAIN. EVENTUALLY, WE WOUND UP AT LITTLE GLASS MOUNTAIN AND MEDICINE LAKE. HOWEVER, DON'T ATTEMPT TO DO WHAT WE DID UNLESS YOU ARE A VERY GOOD NAVIGATOR AND KNOW THE COUNTRY BECAUSE YOUR CELL PHONE ISN'T GOING TO WORK ANYPLACE OUT THERE. THE MOST YOU MIGHT HAVE IS A BLUE DOT ON A MAP YOU LOADED ON GOOGLE MAPS WHEN YOU HAD CELL SERVICE BEFORE YOU LOST IT OUT IN THE BOONIES.
SO, AFTER LITTLE GLASS MOUNTAIN AND TWO OF US CLIMBING TO THE TOP OF THIS AND SWIMMING? IN MEDICINE LAKE WE HEADED FOR WHERE WE ALMOST GOT STUCK IN THE SNOW TRYING TO GET TO MEDICINE LAKE FROM BARTLE ON HIWAY 89. THEN WE RETRACED OUR OLD PAVED ROAD BACK TO JOT DEAN CAVE WHICH IS MARKED IF YOU KNOW WHAT TO LOOK FOR. THIS TIME I FELT BETTER AND HAD THE RIGHT SHOES TO TRAVERSE THE 25 DEGREE ICE WATERFALL EVEN THOUGH MY FRIENDS GIRLFRIEND SORT OF FREAKED OUT WHEN ONE ROCK EMBEDDED IN THE ICE FACE GAVE WAY. LUCKILY, SHE HAD A HOLD OF ANOTHER ROCK EMBEDDED IN THE ICE. SO, I TRIED ALL OF THEM REALIZING THE ICE WASN'T HOLDING AS WELL UNDERGROUND WITH WARMER TOPSIDE TEMPERATURES THAN IN FEBRUARY. HOWEVER, I HAD A FRIEND HELP ME NOT FALL 20 OR 30 FEET ONTO A ROCK LEDGE NEXT TO THE WATERFALL SO I COULD SEE THE BEAUTIFUL STUFF TO THE LEFT OF THE PICTURE OF THE TWO SPELUNKERS (MY FRIENDS) BELOW IN FEBRUARY. I DIDN'T TAKE ANY PICTURES THIS TIME AS IT WAS THE LIMIT OF WHAT I COULD SAFELY DO AT 66 AND FEEL LIKE I WASN'T GOING TO DIE DOING IT. THE ICE TO THE LEFT CONTINUES TO BE BEAUTIFUL AND 4 TO 8 FEET VERTICAL ALONG A SLOPE. HOWEVER, BECAUSE I'M 6 FOOT 5 INCHES AND THE ICE AND THE ROCKS WERE CLOSE I REALIZED UNLESS I WANTED TO BE AN ICE PRETZEL I DIDN'T WANT TO CLIMB DOWN FURTHER. AS IT WAS MY PANTS WERE WET FROM SLIDING DOWN THE ICE HANGING ONTO ROCKS EMBEDDED IN THE ICE. WHAT WE FORGOT WAS TO BRING A ROPE WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN VERY USEFUL HERE.
I WAS ABLE TO FIND TWO ARTICLES FROM THIS EXPERIENCE I HAD WITH MY DAUGHTER AND FRIENDS IN FEBRUARY. WE RETURNED HERE TWO DAYS AGO NOW. HERE THEY ARE:
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 2014
Cave sloped waterfall of Solid Ice in Lava Tube
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.
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