Northern California (STR-2022-20)
Monday, 1 August
As we traveled down Highway 97 to Mount Shasta, CA, the smoke haze reduced visibility to as little as 2 miles. The further south we went, the haze lightened up a bit. Enough that we could see Mount Shasta through the haze about 10 miles away.
Our original plan was to do a hike near Mount Shasta, CA, before checking into the campground. When we arrived at the trailhead parking, there were some sketchy folks hanging out in the parking lot. One of our major rules is to trust your gut, not try to rationalize the feelings you have. Better to err on the side of caution than to have regrets later. We decided not to do the hike and headed into Mount Shasta to check in to the KOA in town for the night.
Tuesday, 2 August
With rain forecast in Mount Shasta and a daytime high temperature of 105 in Redding, we got an early start to drive to Redding to bike part of the Sacramento River Trail.
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| Sundial Bridge from north end |
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| Sundial Bridge from south end |
We crossed back over the bridge and rode along the Sacramento River for about 8.5 miles to Spring Creek. With some steep hills, including Heart Rate Hill,
we were very appreciative of having eBikes for this ride. The scenery and vegetation reminded us of West Texas, although the area had suffered a recent wildfire.
By the time we got back to Sprinty, it was close to 100 degrees and time to return to higher elevations. We stopped at Castle Crags State Park and drove up to the vista point. About half of the 2.5 mile road up to the vista was one lane wide, steep and winding. Fortunately, we only encountered one car on our way up.
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| Castle Crags |
Fortunately, the drive down was also uneventful.
We then turned east to McCloud Falls, a series of three falls. The Lower Falls was the most popular for people to play in the river.
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| Lower McCloud Falls |
We briefly considered hiking to the Middle and Upper Falls - but the temperature and distance after the bike ride and previous hike caused us to reconsider.
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| Middle McCloud Falls |
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| Upper McCloud Falls |
As we left Upper McCloud Falls, Kris saw a bear in the woods. Darrell backed up Sprinty and confirmed the bear sighting. Sorry, no photo.
Our campground for the night is at McArthur-Burney Falls State Park near Burney, CA. We knew we would not have hookups, but we thought we would have cell service. Not.
Wednesday, 3 August
Waking up to a cool morning, we hiked from the campground to Burney Falls, which was why we came here.
We decided to hike the 1.2-mile Burney Falls loop trail so we could admire the falls from different perspectives.
The trail followed Burney Creek for a bit, then crossed over on a footbridge.
An awesome hike, almost worth sacrificing cell service for a night.
We continued south on Highway 89 to Hat Creek Rim Scenic Viewpoint, recommended by another YouTube channel we follow (Creativity RV). The scars from the Dixie fire last year were very much in evidence. In the distance we could see Lassen Peak.
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| Lassen Peak |
Another recommendation was Subway Cave, a lava tube that resembles subway, nearby. The lava tube cave is 1/3 mile in length. Formed from lava spewing from deep cracks, when the top crust cooled and hardened, rivers of red-hot lava insulated by the newly formed rock above, continue to flow. Eventually, the lava drained away, leaving tube-like caves. Subway cave is the largest assessable tube in the flow.
Both the entrance and exit stairs were where the roof of the tube collapsed.
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| Subway Cave Entrance |
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| Subway Cave Exit |
We continued on Highway 98 to Lassen Volcanic National Park, Sprinty's 32nd National Park since February 2017.
Due to road construction, the north entrance station was closed. And the Visitor Center is at the south entrance. So we were exploring the park the old fashioned way - without the typical park brochures. While we had downloaded the park info in the NPS app, it kept crashing making it frustrating to use.
Our first stop was at Chaos Crags and Chaos Jumbles. Chaos Jumbles is the remains of an enormous rock avalanche from 350 million years ago when the northwest face of Chaos Crags collapsed and slid down the mountain slope.
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| Chaos Crags |
We continued up in elevation.
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| Lassen Peak |
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| Upper Meadow |
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| Helen Lake |
An interesting stop was at Bumpass Trailhead. The sign explained Brokeoff Volcano - a volcano estimated to be 11,500 feet high - which eroded away. Various geothermal features in this part of the park continue to erode the mountains.
The trailhead is also an example of the power of glaciers - which smoothed off the terrain, and deposited this large boulder from someplace else.
We stopped at Sulphur Works where active geothermal features could be seen from the sidewalk along the road - the parks most accessible hydrothermal area.
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| Mudpot |
The Kohm Yah-mah-née Visitor Center was a good stop. The video did an excellent job describing Lassen Volcano, including the most recent eruption in 1915.
We turned around and made our way back to the Lassen Peak Trailhead - not a bad view for lunch.
We decided to pass on the 4.8-mile hike to Lassen Peek (1,957 feet of elevation gain; rated as Difficult), and selected the 1.4-mile Cold Boiling Lake trail instead. The trail was amongst the recently burned trees from the 2021 Dixie fire.
Next to the lake was the area where cold gases were bubbling up. We took the sign at its word and did not stick our hand in the water to confirm the temperatures.
We continued back towards the north entrance to the Manzanita Lake campground for the night. Like last night, no hookups and no cell service.
Thursday, 4 August
Today was a golf day. We made a 9am tee time at Diamond Mountain Golf Club, the municipal golf course of Susanville, CA, just over an hour away. The golf course was not crowded, likely due to the warm temperatures. Although we were behind some three-somes and four-somes, the pace of play was such we finished in under three hours.
After our post-golf visit to Starbucks, we headed south on US 395, which had limited choices for campsites with electric. Many dry camping options, but at lower elevation, air conditioning was desired.
The first campground (which did not take reservations, thankfully) we had considered had good reviews, but when we approached the campground, we decided on Plan B. Plan B was the Bordertown Casino and RV Resort near Reno, NV. A call secured one of the last two sites they had for tonight.
Unfortunately, our timing was less than ideal. This weekend is "Hot August Nights", the largest classic car and nostalgic event in the country. They claim to be the world's premier classic car event, more than 5,000 vehicles from the 50's, 60's and 70's with events throughout Reno and Sparks. Which translated to the nightly rate being 50% more than normal.
Friday, 5 August
Today we played golf at Sierra Sage Golf Course enroute to Reno, NV and Truckee, CA. The course was surprisingly green, and sopping wet from the rain last night - which was surprising as we got but a sprinkle at the campground only 3 miles away. We were paired up with Tim and Blaine. A cloudy day made for cooler conditions. We both had a mix of good shots and boo boos.
After golf, and a stop at Starbucks, we stopped by Mercedes Benz of Reno for a part for Sprinty. The headlight washer system was damaged in the deer incident, and the body shop tried to repair the fitting due to lead time on getting a new one. The repair did not hold, and all the windshield washer fluid drained out.
Then to Tahoe-Dinner in Truckee, CA to introduce Sprinty to our friends Don and Carol. We have known Don and Carol for 30 years. Over the years, we enjoyed bike riding with them including a two week cycling excursion in New Zealand in 1995. And multiple ski vacations to California and Colorado. They built a house out here about 10 years ago.
Sprinty got a couple days off in their driveway, which was permitted by the HOA. Sprinty could park in their driveway, but we could not sleep in Sprinty in the driveway.
Saturday, 6 August
After an amazing breakfast, we headed off to hike a portion of the Tahoe Rim Trail. We parked at Tahoe Meadows and headed south towards Spooner. Although the overall 21.3-mile hike is rated moderate, we only did 4 miles out, then turned around. The hike was at an elevation of 8,500 feet, and included some ups and downs. A delightful day for a hike with nice temperatures and a breeze to keep us fairly cool. Overall, we hiked almost 8 miles.
Sunday, 7 August
After another amazing breakfast, and prolonged goodbyes, we headed south towards Bishop, CA. Our first stop was Bodie State Historic Park (www.legendsofamerica.com/ca-bodie/) near Bridgeport, CA. Bodie is a former gold mining town located 13 miles east of US 395 - 10 miles or paved road with 3 miles of washboard road after pavement ends.
Today, only about 5 percent of the buildings remain from the town's 1877-1881 heyday, most having fallen victim to time, fire, and the elements. Designated a California state park in 1962, it is now preserved in a state of "arrested decay." This means that buildings' roofs, windows, and foundations are repaired and stabilized, not restored. The official policy is the buildings are restored to the date the park was acquired in 1962.
The remaining buildings include houses that were built in the 1870s, the Standard Mill from the late 1890s, gas pumps from the 1920s, and a schoolhouse that was used until 1942. Some buildings are named according to past functions, others for the people who lived there--whether the first, the last, or most notable.
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| Boone Store and Warehouse |
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| 1927 Dodge Graham |
The schoolhouse was originally the Bon Ton Lodging House. It became a school after the first school was allegedly burned down by an early-day juvenile delinquent. In 1879-1880 the school saw its highest enrollment of 615 students. It closed in 1942.
In 1893, electricity was brought to power the mill from a hydroelectric plant about 13 miles away - one of the first long-distance transmissions of alternating current in the United States.
The hops growing on the porch railing of the Conway House were said to be the only green plants that could survive in Bodie.
An interesting visit. The 28-minute video at the Red Barn near the beginning of the self-guided tour was very informative about the history of Bodie.
We continued south to our campsite for the night at Highlands RV Park in Bishop, CA. When we called to inquire about available sites, they indicated reservations were not needed. We decided not to make a reservation to give us flexibility if we needed it.
Monday, 8 August
Although we had a notional plan to get an early start, we were awakened by a siren at 6:20am. Our first thought was it was a severe weather siren. After getting more awake, we concluded it was a volunteer fire department siren.
Per our plan, we headed into Bishop to Erick Schat's Bakkery (schatsbakery.com/wp/), home of the Original Sheepherder Bread since 1938. RV parking was available in the city park across the street.
The variety of breads and pastries was numerous. We selected a loaf of the Original Sheepherder Bread, and pastries and coffee for breakfast.
After breakfast and getting fuel (there were to be no services for 160 miles), Sprinty started east on US 6, The Grand Army of the Republic Highway (www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us6.cfm) which runs from Long Beach, CA to Provincetown, MA.
And before long, we crossed into Nevada.
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