Photo

Photo courtesy of American Whitewater

Description

For a third of a mile the Klamath arcs through a dramatic 180-degree bend to the left around K'uc'awa·k, completely reversing its course as it sweeps past spectacular cliffs of columnar basalt rising above the right bank. If you look closely at the talus slopes at the foot of the cliffs, you’ll see that many of the seemingly randomly shaped boulders are actually hexagons that broke off the basalt columns. Although very unique for its columnar perfection in an area with relatively little similar outcroppings, compositionally this basalt is similar to others in the region, such as those at Pluto's Cave, Butte Creek, and Butte Valley. It has olivine and plagioclase crystals and is classified as a fluidal, intergranular olivine-augite basalt. Small voids within it are sometimes filled with with opal or cristobalite.