Mount Konocti

Mount Konocti, which is the largest scenic backdrop you will ever see in the County of Clear Lake, is a dominating figure of the landscape. The mountain is actually a dormant volcano made up of five independent peaks: Clark Peak, Buckingham Peak, Wright Peak, Howard Peak, and South Peak. Konocti is a member of the Clear Lake volcanic field and dates back to the Pliocene era almost 5 million years ago. The individual peaks are dagtic lava domes, meaning that if the main core of the volcano erupts this are where the lava and hot ash will spew forth.

A little background on Mount Konocti's name and how it was derived, which makes for an interesting story line. During the late 1800's settlers in the area called it Uncle Sam Mountain, there must have been someone who had a man who was named Uncle Sam and said look there is a mountain. Another method, in which the mountain was named, has been from a more literal sense. The name 'Konocti' has been derived from the Pomo Indian language, as a derivative of two words, kno and htai. Kno mean mountain and htai means woman. Get them together and you have ‘mountain woman’, and being that this is a dormant volcano, which would make perfect sense.

Several years ago, a survey by the Department of the Interior, revealed a hole in the east-peak that had been previously unseen. What it turned out to be was a vent. The year was 1818 and the great cave had been finally located under the east slope of Konocti. This revealed the water flows that went in and out the dormant volcano, and the discovery of a beautiful cave with stalactites and blind creatures in it. So not only is Mount Konocti a dormant volcano, a spectacular mountain range, a beautiful landscape scenic entity, it also has a few caves that are simply breath holding to see. Add all this together, and Mount Konocti will rank very high if not surpassing the visitors that come to the entire county of Lake County, even matching Clear Lake in numbers. Either way, you can still enjoy both, Mount Konocti and Clear Lake with a simple visit to 'Lake County'.

There is a legend about Mount Konocti that is very interesting and very colorful. It involves Chief Konocti, a Pomo Native Indian Chief leader who over saw thousands of subjects in the Lake County territory. The story goes that the Chief forbid his daughter, Lupiyoma, to marry the object of her desire, a rival young chief named Kah'bel. A bloody battle ensued and raged under Mount Konocti, and both Chiefs laid dead on the field. It is said that the blood of Kah'bel colored the hills to the north a deep red, while Chief Konocti's body formed the volcano which bears his namesake presently. The story ends with the grieving Lupiyoma throwing herself into the lake and her tears springing forth at so the Soda Bay Spring, for some years the lake was known as Lupiyoma Lake. Quite an interesting story, for quite an interesting mountain, or should we say dormant volcano.

From the floor of the valley looking up, Konocti may just look like another rocky peak in a train of mountains. Upon closer examination, the lava has feed a plethora of beautiful flora only seen in the sleep of a volcanic mountain. The brilliant colors of sage, chamise, toyon, and mazonita, adorn the bottom of the dormant volcano as a dress that would adorn a beautiful woman. Between late March and early June the spectacular wild flower assortments are a sight to be hold. Since any place you have a large amount of nectar producing flowers, you will find birds. Keep your eyes on the lookout for flocks of migrating birds and the hawks that hunt these migrating birds.