Out Of This World! - Pluto Caves
An outing to Northern California’s Pluto Caves is an adventure into the past. The Wikipedia description of the caves goes like this:
“Pluto's Cave is a partially collapsed lava tube on the northern outskirts of Mount Shasta. The tube is roughly 190,000 years old, which is quite old for a lava tube, as they normally collapse quickly (in geological terms), having ceilings only a few metres thick. However, Pluto's Cave is located in a semi-arid climate, where erosion is restricted, which contributes to its survival.
The cave was first explored in 1863 by Nelson Cash, who came upon it while looking for stray cattle. He named it Pluto's Cave after Pluto, the Greek God of the underworld. Evidence was found of its use by Pre-Columbian peoples. Visitors can safely hike into the cave about 1200 feet (350 m).[1]”
There are several skylights throughout the cave system. Do you see the writing on the wall?
We went on a day that was blazing hot so the cool caves were a welcomed respite from the heat. I photographed near the entrance of the cave while Mike explored the belly of the cave. He was gone for what seemed like forever! He said that there is some graffiti way back in the cave of flowers of all things!
When you come out of the caves you can see Mt. Shasta to the South.
In doing my research, I had heard about another series of caves not far from Pluto Caves. We have yet to go explore those. Those will have to be for another blog!
DIRECTIONS:
From the beginning of Highway 97 in downtown Weed, proceed north on Highway 97 for 12 miles. Turn left onto County Road A12. Continue north on A12 for 3.2 miles. Turn left onto the poorly signed dirt road and proceed to the trailhead. The dirt road is shortly after the well signed turn off for the Juniper Valley OHV area. Metallic letters spelling out “Pluto Cave” are nailed to the telephone pole by the dirt road.