On the road

Volcanoes, Tall Trees, and More Volcanoes October 9, 2018

We enjoyed a short visit with my nephew, John, and his family in Salem, Oregon. We met at a park on the Willamette River for a picnic and saw an interesting mosaic globe and enjoyed a walk together in a nature area.

Our next camping spot was in Silver Falls State Park.

South Falls

taken from the alcove behind the falls

Fall colors along the highway

We drove over the Cascade Mountains into the high desert area around Bend. We visited Newberry National Volcanic Monument and were lucky to find one of the campgrounds there still open. Newberry Volcano and associated lava flows are about the size of Rhode Island. Our campground was on the shore of one of the lakes in the caldera and close to the Big Obsidian Flow. We tried to drive up to the top of Paulina Peak but turned around three-fourths of the way up because it was covered in clouds and there was nothing to see.

Lava Butte and lava field at Newberry

view of the lava fields from the top of Lava Butte

leading edge of the Big Obsidian Flow

mixture of pumice and obsidian

hefting a big chunk of pumice with one hand

big piece of obsidian - blue coin purse for scale

resting on some obsidian

Paulina Lake - one of two lakes in the caldera

Paulina Creek Falls on the lower western edge of the caldera

On the way to northern California, we stopped at Crater Lake National Park knowing the campground was already closed for the season. As we drove in at the North Entrance, the park ranger said the lake was covered in fog and couldn't be seen. Since we have our lifetime parks pass and it didn't cost us anything to drive through the park, we decided to take our chances and were very glad we did. Yes, some viewpoints were socked in with fog, but we could see all the way across to the other side of the lake at other overlooks. As the next hour passed, the cloud deck lifted a little and we could see the lake quite well. Someday we hope to see it on a cloudless day to experience the famous “Crater Lake Blue” color.

a little sunlight on the other side

looking across to Wizard Island

Between Grants Pass, OR and the California stateline, we saw a sign for the Siskiyou Smokejumper Base Museum and decided to take a look. We had a nice tour given by a man who was a smokejumper for the US Forest Service for 19 years. This base is not as big as the smokejumper training base we visited in Missoula, Montana a few years ago, but interesting. With so much of the wildfires in the western states making the news every summer, we certainly appreciate the effort and courage the smokejumpers and firefighters display. We have seen numerous “Thank You Firefighters” signs along the roadsides in many forested communities.

plane used for smokejumping

inside of plane, Brian would have a hard time fitting in here

The next two days were spent in Redwoods National Park in northern California. Quiet walks amid the towering trees were awesome. We came across a bench along one of the trails with this quote:

“The winds will blow their own freshness into you while

cares will drop off like autumn leaves.” --John Muir

selfie with a redwood

Brian standing on a redwood stump

our first banana slug sighting (and Brian's finger for scale)

another banana slug

Not the biggest tree in the park, but BIG

Before leaving the coast, we visited a California state beach to visit tide pools at low tide. We saw several starfish and anenomes.

Trinidad State Beach, California

purple starfish and green anenomes

orange starfish

Leaving the Pacific Coast finally, we were heading east across northern California and realized we would be only 45 miles from Lassen Volcanic National Park and decided to detour for a visit. When we were there in June 1995 with our kids, the road through the park was still closed because of snow. It was quite cold overnight in the campground at elevation 5,900 feet but we have good warm sleeping bags and were quite comfortable . . until it was time to get out of bed! We have camped in temperatures as low as 28 and survived. The next day, we were able to make the whole drive and see Lassen Peak from three sides. Information signs were sparkly with frost and one overlook was very windy. Lassen's last eruption was in 1915 so it is still quite active and we could see some of the hydrothermal features in the park.

east face of Lassen Peak

glacial erratic deposited by a glacier

boiling mudpot, Sulphur Works thermal area

So much of the past week was full of memories of our visit there with our children in 1995 – Newberry Volcanic National Park, Crater Lake and Redwoods National Parks, Lassen Volcanic National Park. We were on the road for six weeks and it was the last big trip all six of us took together.

After descending from Lassen NP down into the Sacramento River Valley, it was time for us to strike out into new-to-us territory. We headed northward again and saw Mount Shasta dominating the skyline for the next few hours. It was a cloudless blue sky except for the clouds over the summit.

Mount Shasta from the south...

...and from the west...

...and from the north.

As we rounded Mount Shasta on the north side, we came across the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden dedicated to veterans of all conflicts.

This sculpture was titled "POW/MIA" The poles are covered in keepsakes, POW/MIA bracelets, military medals, tokens of all sorts.

When we reached the Oregon stateline, we turned eastward past Lower Klamath and Tule Lake National Wildlife Refuges to Lava Beds National Monument (here comes last of the 'more volcanoes' part of this blog).

This unit of the National Park Service is known for extensive lava flows and lava tube caves created by Mammoth Volcano. It has a very nice campground and we were there on a clear night with a new moon and in an relatively unpopulated area so we were able to view the Milky Way. In the morning when the Visitor Center opened, we obtained our cave permit and set off to explore a few of the lava tube caves by flashlight. Great fun!

inside a lava tube

lava tube selfie

Inside Golden Dome Cave - the golden ceiling is the result of light

reflecting off water droplets that bead up on a coating of harmless hydrophobic bacteria.

After that, we set off in the direction of Reno, Nevada. Because we were getting a late start on the day's drive, our camping options were a little limited. We ended the day at a very nice (and free) Bureau of Land Management campsite in a staging area for off-road vehicles. We were the only campers out there and we enjoyed the solitude of the desert foothills. We could see the lights of the nearest town 6 miles away. More great star-gazing.

from our lonely BLM campsite in the foothills near Doyle, CA

Last night's sunset

This morning we began the long drive across Nevada on Interstate 80. This is new territory for us as well. The afternoon brought dark clouds, blustery winds, intermittent rain and a rainbow, needed auto parts purchases (windshield wiper and headlight bulb) so we are in a motel in Elko, Nevada.