Lake Shasta Caverns (Shasta County, California)

 

For some time, I have been planning to visit the Oregon Coast and take in some of the wonders, but on the way, I decided to revisit a cave tour that I had taken several years ago to the Lake Shasta Caverns. It's a commercial operation, but the caverns, as I recall, are magnificent and so I decided to take the slight detour to see them again.

Purchasing my ticket shortly before the next tour, I had time for a quick bite from the gift shop snack bar. Soon, though, the boarding call came over the intercom and I along with the other dozen or so tourists stepped aboard the small ferry. The trip to the cavern requires a ferry road across the McCloud Arm of Lake Shasta and then a shuttle bus ride up the steep mountainside to the cave entrance. It's a harrowing journey for anyone scared of heights, but the cave makes it all worth while.

Once in the cave, our tour guide took us through the man-made passageway to the first chamber, the Discovery Room. There she began to describe many of the calcite and limestone formations that would be found in the cave. This first chamber has examples of most types, including helictites, which are made when water pressure forces the mineral deposits out of fissures in the rock in small explosions.

The tour continues into the Cathedral Room, with the ceiling towering far above us and each of the walls covered with numerous formations, such as curtains and cave bacon. Apparently, discover of the cave was made through a small passage near the top of a side chamber way back in 1878.

From there, we head down to the basement room, which lakes many calcite deposits and appears dry compared to the rest of the cave, apparently, this section had been sealed off for eons and little to know ground water seeps into this section.

As we visit the final room, we note a number of small brown bats fluttering around once the lights are turned on. In the distance, we can see the top of the ladder that early cave explorers used to enter this room. The guide describes a story related to several names written on the cave wall near the ladder. Apparently, the named individuals were successful in an antiquated initiation ritual for a local fraternity over a century ago. Their success marked for posterity on the cave wall.

After exiting the cave through the originally entrance, we make our way down a number of steps back to the shuttle bus. We thank the guide and make our way down the mountain and then again across the lake. While far from the largest cave system I have visited, it is an interesting stop and worthy of your time should you ever find yourself in the area.