Pacific Northwest; Day 13
Last night our plan was to go to Crater Lake today. I went to the national parks website for Crater Lake, however, and found out two things. One was they are in a level 1 fire evacuation, which means at any time people living and visiting in the area may be told to evacuate. Two was that the road around the rim is closed during the week for maintenance. So we went to plan B - again. This morning we made motel reservations for the next two nights; Susanville, CA and Ely, NV.
We took off from Roseburg, OR shortly after 8:00. It was cloudy and 54 degrees. A short distance down the road it started raining. Poor Chris got more than she bargained for by driving in the rain on I-5 in south Oregon. There are a lot of curves for an interstate highway. She drove about 130 miles, well into California, before I took over and by then the rain had stopped.
We stopped at a scenic viewpoint not far into California. I didn't know it at the time but Mt. Shasta was visible (most of it anyway). I took a picture there and in the far left of the photo below you can see half of Mt. Shasta. The top of the mountain is in the clouds. Mt. Shasta stands 14,162 feet tall. I got a better photo later.
We stopped for lunch at the Hi-Lo Cafe in Weed, CA. Can you believe that? A town named Weed. It sits near the foot of Mt. Shasta and they make the most of the town name. Anyway, we had a good lunch before pressing on.
We drove south to Redding and then east to the Lassen Volcanic National Park. Mt. Lassen stands at 10,457 feet. The top is above timberline and still has snow on it. It is one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. It erupted several times between 1914 and 1921.
We stopped to see "Hot Rock" a large rock that blew from a 1915 eruption and when found by locals was still warm to the touch. We examined it closely and found it had white spots in it.
I photographed Summit Lake and Lake Helen. We hiked about 2.5 miles (round trip) to see Kings Creek Falls. Part of that hike was pretty rugged - for us old farts anyway. In the photo below Chris is at the top of the falls. During the hike we saw a few smaller falls and cascades. It was beautiful.
Before leaving the park we stopped to check out the sulfur hot springs. There are several hydrothermal spots in the park.
We really enjoyed ourselves here and highly recommend it if you're in the area. The road's highest elevation in the park is at 8,500 feet and it was 39 degrees when we were there. We took a photo of the snow there.
After leaving the park at about 6:15 it was another 60 miles to our destination for the night, Susanville, CA. By the time we got checked into our room it was close to 8:00. This is way late for us oldies, but it was a great day. We drove 385 miles and the high temperature was 75. Wildlife spotted on or near the roadway included one deer and one cow.
To see all the photos taken today click on this link: Day 13 Photos
We took off from Roseburg, OR shortly after 8:00. It was cloudy and 54 degrees. A short distance down the road it started raining. Poor Chris got more than she bargained for by driving in the rain on I-5 in south Oregon. There are a lot of curves for an interstate highway. She drove about 130 miles, well into California, before I took over and by then the rain had stopped.
We stopped at a scenic viewpoint not far into California. I didn't know it at the time but Mt. Shasta was visible (most of it anyway). I took a picture there and in the far left of the photo below you can see half of Mt. Shasta. The top of the mountain is in the clouds. Mt. Shasta stands 14,162 feet tall. I got a better photo later.
We stopped for lunch at the Hi-Lo Cafe in Weed, CA. Can you believe that? A town named Weed. It sits near the foot of Mt. Shasta and they make the most of the town name. Anyway, we had a good lunch before pressing on.
We drove south to Redding and then east to the Lassen Volcanic National Park. Mt. Lassen stands at 10,457 feet. The top is above timberline and still has snow on it. It is one of the largest plug dome volcanoes in the world. It erupted several times between 1914 and 1921.
We stopped to see "Hot Rock" a large rock that blew from a 1915 eruption and when found by locals was still warm to the touch. We examined it closely and found it had white spots in it.
I photographed Summit Lake and Lake Helen. We hiked about 2.5 miles (round trip) to see Kings Creek Falls. Part of that hike was pretty rugged - for us old farts anyway. In the photo below Chris is at the top of the falls. During the hike we saw a few smaller falls and cascades. It was beautiful.
Before leaving the park we stopped to check out the sulfur hot springs. There are several hydrothermal spots in the park.
We really enjoyed ourselves here and highly recommend it if you're in the area. The road's highest elevation in the park is at 8,500 feet and it was 39 degrees when we were there. We took a photo of the snow there.
After leaving the park at about 6:15 it was another 60 miles to our destination for the night, Susanville, CA. By the time we got checked into our room it was close to 8:00. This is way late for us oldies, but it was a great day. We drove 385 miles and the high temperature was 75. Wildlife spotted on or near the roadway included one deer and one cow.
To see all the photos taken today click on this link: Day 13 Photos
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