Kathleen's Window: September 2014

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Lassen Volcanic National Park and On Towards Reno

Friday, September 26, 2014

Hoping that the road would be open through the park after more foul weather the night before, we got an early start. Greg checked with the ranger who assured us it was open and “should be gorgeous up there”. The temperature was slowly climbing to 40 degrees. We thought we might hike, but the cold and snow discouraged us. We did a few short hikes at overlooks, and admired Lassen Peak with its vanilla frosting. The 30 mile road was beautiful and fairly empty as we drove up to the Lassen Peak viewpoint at 8,500'. The mountain itself is 10,457', so the viewpoint allows you to take a five mile trail to the very top. Not too many people trying it today. We declined, too.

Lassen Peak in the snow

Looking east across the national park

Climbing above the snow line, about 7,500 feet

Lake Helen and Lassen Peak

Hiking trail up Lassen Peak

Greg's Commentary – Lassen Volcanic National Park is the southernmost of the seven key volcanoes (among hundreds of smaller volcanoes) in the Cascade Range that extends from northern California into British Columbia. Lassen Peak is the largest plug dome in the world and is the remnant of a large composite volcano that blew up and collapsed 200-some thousand years ago. Other well developed volcanic features in the park include several active geothermal areas, a very recent cinder cone, the 100 year-old dacite ash eruption and avalanche of the Devastated Area on the flank of Lassen Peak, the ryolite rubble avalanche at Chaos Crags, and fascinating historical photographs from the 1914 and 1915 eruptions that mesmerized the entire country.

Lassen Museum

Original seismograph from 1927

The Hot Rock thrown 3 miles from the 1914 eruption and still hot three days later. About 45 degrees now.

Dacite boulders ranging in age from 27,000 to 100 years

"Puzzle" rock fractured in place while cooling

Looking down into the Bumpass Hell geothermal area and Brokeoff Mountain

High resolution (1.0 millimeter) GPS station to detect earth inflation due to magma movement.

Glacial erratic boulder on glacier-polished dacite bedrock. Look out Greg!

Boiling mud at the Sulfur Works

Sulfur Works steam vents. Easy access right on road.

We had a brief, but beautiful visit to Lassen, and by noon we were on our way out of the park and headed east again. Slowly we descended to the desert of the Basin and Range on the east side of the mountains and at Susanville began to turn towards Reno. Our route across northern California took us intentionally away from the fire areas. We went south of Mt. Shasta and north and east of the huge King Fire west of Lake Tahoe. The storm that came through seems to have dampened the fire some, and cleared the air, so we expect better air quality when we reach Reno tomorrow. For now we are holed up in a small Plumas National Forest Service campground called Laufman in the mountains southeast of Susanville, California. In the morning we'll leave for Reno. For now we are enjoying the peace and quiet in this six site, free campground with only one tenter up the hill from us. We have ponderosa pines, quaking aspens, stellar jays, and a herd of wild turkeys nearby.

Free USFS campsite in the quaking aspens

Sunday morning update - Yesterday took us to Reno and we spent the afternoon in the Walmart parking lot setting up our new phones. Then we drove to Washoe Lake State Park and sat through more rain last night. Three nights straight of rain after trying to get away from the coastal rain. It followed us here, of course. But, the upside is that it is helping to extinguish the huge King Fire on the other side of Lake Tahoe from us. And this whole region is in drought and desperate for rain. Today we are set up for boondocking. Lots of water, fuel, food, and our waste tanks will be empty, so we are heading down to the Mono Lake area and see if we can get our previous boondock spot on Rush Creek overlooking the lake. Hoping for warmer, drier temperatures!

Looking east at Honey Lake in the Basin and Range

The Storm Rolls In and We Head East Across Northern CA

Tuesday-Thursday, September 23-25, 2014

With the decision to leave Cape Blanco State Park on Tuesday, we needed a plan for where we would go next. Originally we had hoped to have a week or two on the coast, relaxing and walking on the beach, but the seasons caught up with us. The first major storm of the Fall/Winter hit the Northwest. Sunday we could feel the wind reversing direction and coming up from the south. A sure sign that summer was over. The overcast sky and chilly temperatures were moody and intriguing, but, we didn't relish being stuck in a small, chilly, damp RV for the next week.

Tuesday we stayed in our campsite until the 1:00 pm checkout, finished posting on the blog and then drove to the lighthouse overlook and ate lunch. We had one last commune with the beaches below, and felt the winds hitting us broadside and rocking the rig. Then we made the short drive to the town of Port Orford and parked at the Battle Rock Overlook. We stayed there the rest of the afternoon watching the storm pick up along the coast, and being rocked crazily in the wind. Not wanting to drive in the heavy rain until the next day, we drove over to the city lot on a bluff overlooking the harbor and fishing boats. Port Orford provides this lot for RV's, about six good sized ones can fit. The sign says, RV's $20, but there are no envelopes, nor a way to put money in the broken iron post, so we figured we would stay free for the night.

Looking south at Humbug Mountain from Port Orford

The Port Orford commercial pier

Our end site nestled up against the side of the bluff gave us some shelter from the rollicking winds, and we spent the night with the rain pounding the roof. Dawn brought more rain and we splashed out through the huge puddles and drove south through Gold Beach and Brookings. This part of the coast is some of the most picturesque. We didn't stop to view it, but could see the huge surf as we drove along. High surf warnings were posted as the waves coming in a new direction were reshaping the beaches and dunes after their summer configurations.

Our free campsite on the bluff in Port Orford

Driving south on US 101 - The RV was much cleaner after the 3 hour rainy carwash

Huge surf among the sea stacks

Just south of Brookings we entered California. The plan was to re-visit three places from our trip up the coast in the Spring. Six River Brewery in McKinleyville, and the Emerald City Laundramat and Wildberries Market in Arcata! We hit the brewery at lunch time and I was able to have my all-time favorite micro-brew that has Humboldt County strawberries in it. Greg wound up with a girly raspberry lambic ale. We watched the pouring rain out the window and enjoyed our lunches.

Wahoo Tacos and Raspberry Lambic

It wasn't a month yet(!), but we found ourselves at our favorite laundromat so we went for it. While the clothes washed we crossed the street to Wildberries Market, also one of the best natural markets we've found. The trifecta! Good brews and food, clean clothes, and a re-supply of good food, but we still needed a place for the night. We did a repeat and went to Clam Beach just outside of McKinleyville. It's only a small county campground with a parking lot and a few sites to pitch tents in the dunes. We parked, paid our $13 with a senior discount, and settled in for night to wait out the rest of the storm.

By Thursday morning the rain stopped, we said goodbye to the coast and drove east on Highway 299 out of Arcata. The fog and clouds gradually lifted as we ascended into the forested Klamath Mountains. We decided to drive until we were ready to stop, or found someplace interesting to land, possibly one of the lakes around Redding. Our ultimate destination was Reno, Nevada, simply because they have a Walmart where our new phones can be shipped for us to pick them up. Over two years of hard use and my smartphone has turned into the “Demon Phone”. Let's just say that it has developed a mind of its own that was psychotic... Then we want to retrace our route south along Hwy 395 along the eastern Sierra Nevada in California.

Fog and rain in the Klamath Mountains

While we checked out camping at Whiskeytown Lake, (just a paved parking lot with no hook-ups), we got a text that the phones were in early, so that settled our plans. We drove the rest of the way to Lassen Volcanic National Park, climbing as we went, up to 5,900' and cold weather! Unfortunately we caught up with the weather system and the road through the park was closed and being plowed out from snow in the highest areas. Checking into the Manzanita Campground at the entrance, we found out that they had 2” of rain, and it showed. Some of the campsites were washed out. It took a while for us to find a flat campsite without the potential for a river to run through it. Good thing, too. We had more rain, and the temperature fell to near freezing during the night.

Sunshine near Redding along the Trinity River

Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Cape Blanco Never Disappoints!

Monday, September 22, 2014

The last three days at Cape Blanco State Park have shown us another side of the Oregon coast. Last June when we spent a few days here we had divine weather. The days were sunny, dry, with a light breeze, and temperatures in the 60's. Ideal weather for exploring the beaches, tidal pools and cliffs. The campsites here are very private, set back in the coastal woods on a circle, with easy access to the walking trails. We spent our time discovering the timeless beauty of the coast - The Oregon Coast Part 1- Cape Blanco.

This visit greeted us with fog and overcast skies. We've had a few fleeting rays of sunshine, but for most of our time it has been cloudy and very windy. This morning, Tuesday, as we prepare to leave, the forecasted week of rain has started. The trees are dripping, the wind blowing, and fog creeping through the tops of the trees. We will move on today. Sitting in a house on the bluff overlooking the ocean and watching the storms roll through is something I would relish. Sitting in a small RV in the woods with no view and too much rain to get out and walk isn't fun, so we'll begin our trek south and east in order to wind up in Maryland by November.

Foggy walk to Needle Rock

Rainbow sea foam!

One lonely starfish

Seal watching us - Waiting for a treat or just bored?

Cormorant on Needle Rock

Even with the change in weather this visit, the cape has it's beauty and intrigue. We took a lighthouse tour with two of our favorite bloggers, Cheri and Chris from Technomadia. They took a few minutes from their busy Sunday volunteer lighthouse hosting position to meet us. We also met Clarke and Elaine, but missed Nina and Paul from Wheelingit.

Yup, Bright! Beautiful old Fresnel lens.

We spotted orca whales in the cove, heard sea lions barking from our campsite, found a starfish and lots of sea urchins, driftwood, seagulls, and noted the changes the seasons brought to the sandy beaches. The leaves are changing and starting to blow off in today's wind. The winds themselves have shifted from north to south which signals the greater change to winter. Time to go. Enjoy the photos from Cape Blanco.