I keep on falling

I wasn't planning on going to Burney Falls, in fact I'd never heard of them. Thank you, Laura, for recommending the stop.

Burney Creek empties into the Sacramento and eventually into the Pacific. 

The area is all forest and lava rocks; not especially scenic until you come upon the falls.

McArthur-Burney state park has a cute visitor center, a few log cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 30s, and a picnic area with plugs and wifi where people getting off the Pacific Crest Trail stop to recharge.

I'd planned to go to Lava Beds but was so engrossed in the post-apocalyptic novel I'm listening to that I missed the turn for Medicine Lake. So I stopped at a crowded Mexican restaurant for tasty birria and pulled into Tulelake in time to check into my B&B and head out for sunset on the wildlife refuge.

The lake has thoughtfully placed photo sheds. I saw pelicans and egrets, surprising so far inland. And lots of blue dragonflies, and butterflies, and a couple of long-eared bunnies.

It's a little swampy, but the air was cool and pleasant.

Tulelake is a 15-block town, best known for growing horseradish and for being the location of an internment camp for Japanese immigrants and Japanese–Americans during World War II. They're working on a more permanent memorial, but for now there are photos in the fair building. It's remote, and while not as bleak a spot as Manzanar or some of the colder camps, hard to imagine American families imprisoned here for 3 years, their possessions confiscated (many permanently), as a result of martial law.

Golden hour delivered.

Fe, my hostess, suggested heading out to Petroglyph Point for sunset. The Modoc believe that Kamookumpts, the creator of the world, sleeps here at night.

I didn't see any petroglyphs, but the light was magical.

Tomorrow: visiting the lava tubes at Lava Beds.