Summer 2011
After a short break for an epic ski season and some serious attention to the cabin remodel, we're on the road again. This time it's a thousand mile car trip that started as a journey across California to Eureka then up the coast through Crescent City into southern Oregon and then returning mostly on Highway 89 to Nevada.
Redwoods NP
California has been protecting the coastal redwoods since the 1920s and the federal government has been protecting them since 1908 when Teddy Roosevelt declared Muir Woods a National Monument. But Redwoods National Park didn't come into existence until 1969 and that's an interesting story.
Apparently, Lady Bird Johnson visited the state parks while she was First Lady and came away with such a feeling of serenity after the stress of her husband's final years in office that she wanted to do something more. And at the same time, a National Geographic survey team had just found some significant stands of unprotected old growth coastal redwoods in an area south of the state parks. The result was a new National Park that included the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and the Tall Trees Grove, home to the tallest of the tall trees.
We visited the Lady Bird Johnson Grove and we walked the paths. I spent a lot of time looking for flying squirrels, while others (Nancy), were on the lookout for Bigfoot. It wasn't that we didn't appreciate the tall trees, it was just that this area, with its marked trails, numbered stations and explanatory guide book, simply reminded us of the very familiar Muir Woods.
It was later, when we were on the ten miles of the Scenic Parkway that we were really began to appreciate what was going on here. As deep as we could peer into the woods on either side of the road, we could see nothing but thick stands of giant redwoods. This wasn't an enclave of protected trees, this was a massive giant redwood forest and, in comparison, the road was nothing but a tiny path lined on both sides with a 300 foot tall wall of trees. It was both awe-inspiring and calming and we could easily relate to Lady Bird's sense of serenity there.
As for wildlife, we were told that spotting Roosevelt elk was simply a matter of stopping at the viewing area off Davison Road. I was a little skeptical. The coastal fog had gone offshore early and the sun was bright and the temperature was rising. I guessed that the elk might have eaten early and gone off into the woods to avoid the sun. And, of course, that was exactly the situation. We could see in the meadow where they had grazed, but they were gone. I saw some scat on the trail (they like their blackberries) and I took a picture and we headed back, all the while checking out the woods to see if we could spot anything.
We pulled out on the road, rounded the bend and came to a stop--along with about a dozen other cars--because the elk hadn't gone into the woods to get out of the sun, they had simply crossed the road and moved into someone's yard. Resting in the shade of a wide tree, a dozen or so cow elks and a few calves were sleeping while a massive, majestic bull was lying off to the side with his head up keeping an eye on the camera-clicking humans. On the other side of the lawn area, two other groupings of cows and bulls were also resting or grazing. In all, there were about 30 to 40 elk and they were all just chillin'.
We drove down to the ocean, but there wasn't much to see. The fog had moved just offshore and, while we could hear the ocean, we couldn't actually see it - not at all unusual for summer in northern California. We spent that night in Crescent City at the Curly Redwood Lodge. Its claim to distinction is that the entire motel was built from the wood of one redwood tree. It was quaint.
Oregon Caves NM
Oregon Caves National Monument may be as famous for its chateau as it is for its marble caves. Built in 1934, the chateau is six stories tall, covered on the outside with cedar bark giving the impression that it grew up from the gorge created by Cave Creek. Because of the gorge setting, the lobby entry is on the fourth floor near the guest parking and the 23 guest rooms are on the 4th, 5th and 6th floors. The rooms, of course, are small and oddly shaped with few amenities. The dining room and coffee shop are down on the third level while the second level is used for basement storage and the first level houses the mechanical equipment. It makes for a unique experience.
A snow and mud slide in late 1963 just about destroyed the chateau, but it was rebuilt to its original design within five months. Much of the Monterey furniture, for which it is famous, was rescued although some had to be restored. One change made after the disaster was to modernize the coffee shop and today it's a 1964-era malt shop still using the equipment installed as part of the rebuild and it is marvelous.
Lassen Volcanic NP
When Congress made the Mt. Lassen area a National Park in 1916, there was every reason to do so. Mt Lassen had had a series of eruptions leading up to its massive eruption in 1915 and local residents were able to document all of the events with photographs. All across the country, people got to see what a 30,000 foot cloud of ash looked like as well as the devastation that resulted. Mt. Lassen was unique in being the only active volcano in the United States.
Well, things change. Today, Hawaii's Kilauea is part of the United States and it's never quiet. And even in the continental United States and even in the Cascade range, Mt. Shasta has lost most of its superlatives to the Mt. St. Helen eruption of 1980.
When we entered Lassen Volcanic National Park from the north side, our view was of the eruption side of Mt. Lassen and we were seeing a park that has been recovering for quite a long time. We saw the Chaos Jumbles and the Devastated Area where the lava had flowed and rocks had been thrown or carried, but our view was often blocked by trees that were nearing a hundred years old. We were in a park healing its scars and well on its way to complete recovery.
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| Lassen Peak |
We stopped at the base of the summit trail which was still closed half-way up due to snow, but the California Conservation Corps was hard at work repairing the trail damage. At the base it was still early spring and wildflowers were just peaking.
As we continued to explore the park, we began to notice seismic equipment that tracks all of the movement around a still active mountain and as the road descended toward the southern base of the mountain, we came to Bumpass Hell with its super-heated bubbling mud pots and the Sulfur Works with its steam vents and scalding water. The volcano may be quiet for now, but deep down this is still a very dangerous place.
Other Things
It would be difficult to travel a thousand miles without seeing things you didn't expect, but one thing I did plan for was a drive-thru tree. Some people (Nancy) develop childhood fixations on things like the Hoover Dam and the Swallows of Capistrano. Mine was to drive through a tree. One of my biggest disappointments was the discovery that the Wawona Tunnel Tree in Yosemite's Mariposa Grove of giant sequoias had fallen in the winter of 1968-69 just a short time before we arrived in California. Coastal redwoods have only about half the girth of a giant sequoia but there are still three that can be driven through. So I found one and drove through it and here's the picture:
After staying at the Curly Redwood Lodge and driving through a giant redwood tree, I might be suspected of having completely descended into kitsch, but, I do have some standards. If you were in San Francisco in the 70's, you must remember the "Trees of Mystery" bumper stickers on all of the tourists' cars. Well, the "Trees of Mystery" is alive and apparently thriving. They have billboards everywhere and advertise in all of the visitor magazines and as we drove up U.S. 101, out of the corner of my eye, I spotted their mascots, the giant statues of Paul Bunyon and his blue ox, Babe, in the parking lot. Now, I don't think they do the bumper sticker assault anymore, but I wasn't taking any chances. I kept my eyes on the road and pressed down on the accelerator.
Burney Falls
I'm sure I've heard about Burney Falls but it never really sunk in just how extraordinary they actually are. I like waterfalls as much as the next person, but after Niagra Falls, Hawaii and Yosemite, it would take a lot to be impressive. Burney Falls are all of that. Even Teddy Roosevelt called them the "eighth wonder of the world."
Burney Creek flows over the edge of the rock face and down 129 feet into a pool below. When we were there, there was enough flow to make two or three separate waterfalls. In themselves, these are nothing special, but the the creek bottom is lava rock and water doesn't just flow over the top of the lava rock, it also flows through the lava rock. So, in addition to the main flows, there are also smaller flows out of the entire face of the rock itself creating a curtain of falls. Every viewing angle gives a different perspective and all are amazing and even mesmerizing.
California State Route 89
We're fairly familiar with the southern portion of SR 89, but this trip on the northern section made us realize that this road is an amazing 243 miles. An exit off I-5 at the base of Mt. Shasta marks the northern beginning and just down the road are Burney Falls and Lassen National Park. At the park, it slows down considerably as it becomes the park road and it climbs to the base of Mt. Lassen. From there it descends, exiting the park and farther south merges with SR 70 on the section of the Feather River Gorge that includes two of the world's greatest railroad engineering marvels, the Keddie Wye and the Williams Loop.
After this, it splits off down to the town of Truckee, home to the Donner Party Memorial. Continuing out of Truckee, the road follows the Truckee river past Squaw Valley down to the river's source at the Lake Tahoe Outlet Gates. The road then hugs the west shore of Lake Tahoe down past the turn-off for our cabin and on to Emerald Bay, one of the most photographed sites in the world. At the south shore it climbs out of the Tahoe Basin to Woodfords, one of the Pony Express Remount Stations, and then down again to Topaz Lake where it ends at US 395.
So, What Happened to Crater Lake National Park?
Crater Lake was supposed to be the centerpiece of this trip and we had hard-to-get reservations for three nights at Crater Lake Lodge during the third week of July. Unfortunately, epic ski seasons have consequences. Just before we left, we discovered that the rim road at Crater Lake was still closed and that, while the lodge itself was open, summer services there would not begin until near the end of the month. I called for more information and was told that the lodge was essentially snow-bound. At this point we started to have visions of Jack Nicholson running around the place with an axe and we decided to put this off until we could get reservations during the real summer season.
