It was another fine morning on Labor Day. We started out cold (it was 45 when we left and surely much less when we rolled out of the tent!) and decided to stop in Klamath Falls, OR at the Walmart to get ANOTHER air mattress. Good thing they exchange them and don’t charge us! They should though because Coleman guarantees them for a year. After a brief stop there, we continued down OR 39 and into California to visit Lava Beds National Monument. If you are a caver or like caves at all, Lava Beds is your park! There are over 700 lava tubes (caves) within the park. Many (20) are easy access but require a helmet and light with good, sturdy shoes. Also, they screen you for prior visits to caves so as to not let the White Nose disease spread to their bats from others in the country. Cynthia and I aren’t really ‘cave’ folks so we elected to view the lava flows and pass on the caving. We took a short cut and drove up Hill Road to CA 161 and headed west to US 97 north. Soon after, we swung further west and north on a county road and once in Keno, OR we took a left on OR 66 (an historic route of the Applegate portion of the California Trail). Oregon 66 is a must ride. The road winds sharply and there are plenty of elevation changes to keep it interesting. Also, traffic wasn’t an issue. After hooking up with I-5, at Grants Pass we headed west on US 199 to our next visit at Oregon Caves National Monument just about 50 miles on. It was a big day at 300 miles. Since it was late and we’ve been in a number of caves, we decided to pass on the last tour of the day and went back down the road to the Grayback Campground. This BLM campground was just right! Only two other campers! Nice big sites and very tall trees made this a good place to overnight. Unfortunately, we had to drive about a half mile to get water since they had already turned off the taps in the campground. It was a warm night and THAT was welcomed after the night we had at Crater Lake!
A very fine day greeted us on Tuesday, September 2. We really took our time since we were only going to travel the 80 or so miles to our next camp at Harris Beach State Park, just inside Oregon from California. The drive there was very nice. The Redwood Highway or US 199, travels from I-5 all the way to the coast. It is made for motorcycles! It was lovely. Harris Beach is a GREAT state park and we thought the best we’ve ever stayed in. The only thing missing is WiFi and a quarry not too far away works nights…that is, ALL night and that wasn’t too pleasant. Good thing for our ear plugs! The showers are as nice as many I have seen in homes and the campsites are laid out really well that gives everyone good privacy, especially tent folks like us. A short walk takes you to the beach and as most of Oregon’s coast is, it is spectacular! Once we got settled in, we drove back out to a store that I spied on the way in that sold smoked salmon. I just can’t pass that up. We got a good amount of that and once back at the camp, we went down to the ocean for a walk about and take some pictures. Our plan was to stay at Harris Beach two nights and take in Redwood National Park on Wednesday. We met a lot of great folks at this park and lots wanted to know about our adventure once they knew we had been at it almost 6 months. The experience reminded us once again how lucky we were (are).
September 3 was just as nice as any of the previous days for the past 2 or so weeks! We laid back all day and didn’t do very much except a run to the Fred Meyer (grocery store). We caught up on reading and doing a bit of writing.
Thursday, September 4 was our get a way day with plans to get to Lassen Volcanic National Park by day’s end. It was yet another fine day and we took off south on US 101 and back into California. We took our time since a lot of this road travels through either the state parks or the national park dedicated to the Redwoods. Except for the smoke (from some fire, not sure which), the coast drive is great. If you are up that way and travelling south, just beyond the Klamath River, take the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway. It parallels US 101 but is WAY better! The coast redwoods are just spectacular! Along this route, there are groves devoted to individuals who have made a contribution to their preservation. That’s a pretty nice thing! We found the drive to be very relaxing albeit a bit cold. We hit lows in the mid to lower 50’s. We stopped at the south end visitor’s center, the Kuchel Visitor Center and took in the museum and got our stamp for the Iron Butt National Parks Tour. There we found out that the Coast Redwoods are in fact taller than the Giant Sequoia but not nearly as big around. The Redwoods can reach heights of 370 feet while Giant Sequoias are about 311 feet. The story about the saving of the Coast Redwoods is worth the visit alone but to experience such grandeur yourself, is beyond words.
After a stroll along the beach, we mounted back up and continued south on US 101 to the US 299 cut off. One of the premier roads in California has to be US 299. Though we only did the coast to Redding portion, it was a blast (but looking at the map, the portion from Redding onward east looked just as exciting)! I FINALLY got a chance to wear some rubber off the SIDES of my Michelin Pilot Road 4’s. THE most scenic portion is the travel along the Trinity River, known for its Steelhead, Trout and Salmon fishing. The road, for us motorcyclists, HAS to be just as good as or better than the fishing! The limit is 55 but at 65 or so, the road stays a bit of a challenge when you combine the driving with sightseeing. Once we got up into the mountains from the coast, the heat broke out! By the time we got to Redding, it was 105 degrees. We couldn’t WAIT to speed out CA 44 and gain that cooling rise in altitude. By the time we reached Lassen Volcanic National Park at about 5,500 feet, it was a quite pleasant 78 degrees. We decided to camp at the first campground, Manzanita Lake since it had showers and was recommended by the park entrance officer. We easily found a good spot and took the opportunity to shower, making us feel SO much better after that long two plus hour slog in the heat.
We thought Friday, September 5 was going to be a cold morning since we camped at about 6,000 feet but that didn’t prove out. The morning was fine (just like the previous ones…!) and we took our time getting to the visitor’s center for the film and such before heading out on our hike to Bumpass Hell. Though it has a funny name, Bumpass was the name of the fellow in 1863 that discovered the thermal area that bears his name. Unfortunately for him, while giving a tour to some friends, he fell through a weak spot in the crust and fell into boiling mud. The outcome we know not of but I bet it was hell! The hike was bout 1.7 miles in and was well worth the effort though not a difficult trail by any means. There you will find boiling mud pots, steam vents and sulphur deposits galore! Though it stinks a bit, the colors are great! A board walkway takes you around the features and keeps you safer than Bumpass.
Lassen Volcanic National Park is very unique in that it is one of only a few places in the world where you can see all four types of volcanoes in one spot- the shield volcano, cinder cone, plug dome or lava dome and, the composite volcano. Very cool stuff! The beginnings of the volcanic activity at Lassen started 400,000 to 600,000 years ago with the build-up of Brokeoff Mountain portions of which portions are still visible today. Then rising to 11,000 feet and over 8 miles wide at the base, Brokeoff Mountain exists today only as a series of peaks that are the remnants of the mountain’s flanks. Lassen Peak formed about 27,000 years ago and has erupted as recently as 1916 with the largest being on May 22, 1915 that was caught on (movie) film. Lassen Peak is also the southern-most volcanic peak in the North Cascade range.
Saturday, September 6 started out a little colder than Friday but it warmed fast. We got away around 9:30 and headed back through the park to the southern entrance. There, we turned south on CA 36 and hooked up with CA 89 for the 120 or so miles to Truckee, CA. If you are up that way, be sure to travel CA 89. Great road with beautiful scenery. Once in Truckee, we needed to catch up on our electronic messages and there were plenty! We stayed at a hotel in Truckee-Tahoe, CA and enjoyed one night inside. But before we could settle in, we had to do our laundry, write our journals and get cleaned up!
Sunday, September 7 was a fine albeit COLD morning! Good thing we were inside a hotel! The morning temp was in the high 30’s and I am sure we would have been pretty cold if we were outside camping. We waited till about 8:30 when it warmed a bit and headed off down CA 89 and the west side of Lake Tahoe. The traffic was terrible and the road all torn up. Add to that the sightseers traveling and the mind-numbing speed of 25 miles an hour and it added up to an unpleasant ride. Once we got into Nevada, I wanted to take the NV 207 back out to CA 89 and onto US 395, cutting off a fair amount of driving but the road was closed at the summit. We had to stay on US 50 over to Carson City and pick up US 395 south there. It wasn’t too bad of a detour. Once on US 395 it was smooth sailing all the way to Mammoth Lakes, CA. We passed the Mono Lake area which is quite unique with the greenish color to the lake water. Once at Mammoth Lakes, we stopped straight away at the first campground, New Shady Rest Campground, part of the BLM system. The site we got was pretty good and we set up and unhooked the trailer for the ride to Devils Postpile National Monument. Considering it is a trek down a single lane road for about 10 miles, Devils Postpile isn’t the kind of national monument you just stubble upon. You have to want to go there! Considered to be one of the world’s finest examples of exposed basaltic columns, why wouldn’t go the distance to see it!? Though there isn’t a whole lot other than that, we think just the opportunity to see a world-class geological feature is reason enough to climb over about 9,000 feet in elevation and down into a pretty valley. After our visit there, we headed back to camp and enjoyed a quiet evening after having met a really nice couple who shared some of their travel experiences with us.
It looks like we have about a week left in our summer trip. We’re off to Yosemite and Kings Canyon with Sequoia thrown in for some more fun! Stay tuned! Greg & Cynthia.