Clear Lake Environmental Research Center(CLERC)
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What's Inside the Mountain?

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Mt. Konocti, Lake County's ancient towering volcano is the subject of legends. Pomo oral history describes a huge tunnel at the base of Mt. Konocti that was exposed during times of drought. Pomo explorers found a huge cave and lake inside, filled with blind fish. ​In the late 1800s and the 20th century, numerous stories have been recorded of a large venthole and caves on the peak of Konocti. Residents described dropping rocks down the vent and not hearing them reach bottom. Others carved initials on sticks and dropped them into the hole, to find them floating in the lake weeks later.
The Konocti Project, Inc., a non profit organization devoted to the “preservation, exploration and protection of Mt. Konocti” was created in the 1990's by Bob Zalusky, a World War II Flying Tigers veteran and ex-airline pilot in conjunction with Norman J. Lehrman, chief geologist for Homestake Mining Co.
They believed the center of the mountain contained a huge cavern; one or more vent holes extended from the top of the mountain down into the center. Another tube extended from the cavern into the lake, allowing water from Clear Lake to flow in and create an interior lake.
The group assembled a crew of interested scientists and residents to search for the location of the cave near Wright’s Peak.

Watch The Konocti Project film to learn about what they discovered:

Learn More About Mt. Konocti

Forgotten Lake

An article written by Juliane Poirier Locke published in the Spring 2004 issue of California Wild: The Magazine of the California Academy of Sciences.
Read Article

Know Lake County:  The History of Mt. Konocti

An enchanting lecture on the history of Mt. Konocti by Terry Knight, author and columnist for the Lake County Record Bee.

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Clear Lake Environmental Research Center is a nonprofit, tax-exempt charitable organization (tax identification number 47-1489147) under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Donations are tax-deductible as allowed by law.
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© 2022 Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, PO Box 636 Lakeport, CA  95453
  • About Us
    • Who We Are >
      • About CLERC
      • BOARD OF DIRECTORS
      • STAFF
      • Collaborators
    • What We Do >
      • Fire & Forestry >
        • Community Projects >
          • Hazardous Fuel Reduction Project - Phase 1
          • Wildfire Resilience Project - Phase 1
          • Northshore Fuels Team
          • South Lake Chipping Program
          • Fox Drive Fire Prevention Project
          • Middletown and Cobb Evacuation Route Clearing
          • Bottle Rock Rd Project
        • Cost-Share Programs >
          • North Bay Forest Improvement Program (NBFIP)
          • Building Fire Resiliency in California's Coast Range Forests and Grasslands
      • Hitch Observation Program
  • The CLERC Lab
  • Resources
    • Current Conditions
    • Lab Forms
    • Report Hitch Sighting
    • Lake County TREX
    • Wildfire Resiliency Resources
    • The CLERC Library
  • Connect
    • CLERC News
    • Work With Us
    • Contact Us >
      • Landowner Contact Form
    • Donate