Around 5 am, my phone was blowing up. It wasn't a feared emergency. It was 8 am back home and I was getting greetings for my 65th birthday. Great, but wish it had been quieter. The phone was on mute.
My husband K got up at 7:30, while I waited until 7:49. He gave me birthday cards from the family, as well as some small gifts. Then, we got ready to go out to breakfast at The Blackberry Patch.
It took just two minutes to get there from the hotel and we arrived at 8:26 (odometer 24614). We got seats in a booth by the window. It took a while for the waitress to come back for our order. K ordered the Senior Special- 2 eggs, 2 bacon, hash browns, and toast- for $11.39. I love strawberries. So, I ordered two pancakes for $8,99, which seemed pricey, and splurged on strawberries for $2.99. A small orange juice for me was $1.99 and coffee for K was $1.69.
The motel clerk had recommended this place for breakfast. What she didn't say was just how long it would take to get said breakfast. The place was not crowded and our food was not complicated. And yet, it did not get brought to us until 9:20. She actually brought the bill before we finished eating. K's meal was fine, but my expensive strawberries were anything but fresh. It was obvious they were from a frozen package. The pancakes were not worth the price. Not a great way to start my day.
It took a while for her to deal with said bill. So, at 9:38, I left and walked across the parking lot to the nearby Rite Aid for Bandaids that promised to be good for sensitive skin. I'd cut my arm at home and the Bandaids I had were tearing my skin.
K was waiting for me in the car, which he'd moved, at 9:48 and we drove the two minutes back to the motel. There, we washed up and packed up everything. I checked out at 10:20 and we headed out with K behind the wheel.
We took route 299 up to Four Corners and turned right onto route 89. Our route today would take us to California 89's highest point and the road itself is the highest in Northern California. We drove between Latour State Forest and Lassen National Forest as we drove south.
About 25 minutes down the road, we saw lots of dead trees. There had been a fire here at some point. We also caught a glimpse of what we think was Mt. Shasta.
Just after 11, we reached the sign for the northern entrance to Lassen Volcanic National Park, the place I'd been looking forward to seeing for quite some time. It was a perfect choice for my birthday. Three minutes later, we joined the line to check in at the ranger station. It was satisfying as always to just show the National Park Pass.
The line moved quickly and at 11:06 (24654), we were parked at the Loomis Museum, the first real stop inside the park.
We decided to do the Lake Trail first and hike around Lake Manzanita. We headed down the trail from the parking lot and went right. The trees were so large and often had fresh, light green shoots. The pine cones that had fallen from them were huge. We passed a woman carrying a huge armful, which I'm certain is not permitted in a National Park: Take nothing but pictures; leave nothing but footprints.
Sometimes, we passed huge rocks that had to have been tossed there when the volcano erupted.
Once in a while, we caught a glimpse of the ridge beyond the lake. Other times, the trees parted and we got a good look of the beautiful lake that we were going counterclockwise around.
We found quirky growths in the flora. Or, we looked down to see how clear the water was and then looked up to see Lassen Peak looming in the distance and acting all innocent as if it wasn't really a volcano.
Besides passing hikers, we also saw people fishing and kayaking. Of course, there was one person on a bike and a couple walking their dog- both verboten on the trails. When we got to Loomis Museum later, I found a ranger and reported these, saying that they really need bigger signs (yes, there was a sign near the parking lot) saying not to do these things. She was not happy to hear they occurred.
It was such a beautiful day and walk/hike. We'd gone about 1.75 miles by the time we finished at 12:40 pm. We'd gotten some beautiful photos and some nice wildlife shots.
When we finished, we went up to the Loomis Museum. Here, I got my National Parks Passport stamped and picked up a few souvenirs. We watched the film and learned about the eruption of Lassen Peak in the early part of the last century. A lot of the exhibits had been removed to protect them from the approaching Dixie Fire that had begun southeast of the park in July, 2021 and wasn't contained until late October, 2021. The exhibits still had not been brought back for display. That was rather depressing, but it was good that the structure had not been burned.
We took a break to eat one of our almond butter bars. There was no food at this end of the park.
We were on the road again at 1:54, but we'd driven only three minutes, when we came upon a pullout for Chaos Crags. Here we could see the results of an eruption that occurred 350 years ago. It was amazing.
K pulled out of the parking area at 2:04, but stopped again just three minutes later at Sunflower Flat. This stop centered on the Noble Pass and the emigrant trail that passed through here. Did they realize this was a volcanic area?
Off again at 2:10, as we stopped at Hot Rock eight minutes later, we saw a deer. We didn't get a photo, but the area was really interesting. The rock below was carried 5 miles and weighs 300 tons! It is a couple of feet taller than my 5' 10" husband.
We left at 2:25 and drove on to Devastated Area, which was just 4 minutes away. You'll note how peaceful and beautiful Lassen Peak looked today. The signs did such a good job of explaining what happened here.
The road was climbing, when we left at 2:38. At 2:45, we were at an elevation of 7220 feet and saw a different kind of devastation. This one was from last year's fire.
We started seeing some small patches of snow up on the bank to the side of the road. At 2:55, we stopped at Kings Creek Meadow. Here, there was snow close enough to the road to touch. It is always a thrill to touch snow on my birthday! There was also a lovely meadow with a great view of the mountain. We enjoyed the scenery and another almond butter bar before leaving this popular stop at 3:13.
I was really glad that it was K driving. A couple of years ago, I drove up Pikes Peak and across Rocky Mountain National Park. I find that kind of driving to be white knuckle. I do it because it needs to be done, not because I enjoy it. By the way, the road through the park- Rte. 89- is the highest in the country.
As we got closer to the next stop, we were seeing more snow. Finally, at 3:26 at 8511 feet, we parked in the lot on the side of Lassen Peak. Bleak and barren in places, but with deep green evergreens in others. The sky was just perfect for beautiful shots. By the way, in the third picture, doesn't that rock on the left in front of the craggy rock look like a sitting cat?
We left at 3:38 and just before we stopped at Lake Helen at 3:42, I got this shot of the pole that told the snowplow where the edge of the road was. Look how tall it is!
We stopped at Lake Helen just long enough for photos. We saw folks swimming in it and knew that water had to be ice cold.
Our next stop was a vista at 3:45 that let us see Brokeoff Mountain or Mount Tehama, which is an eroded andesitic stratovolcano (the latter term sounds cooler than "composite volcano"). The vista was quite amazing. We only needed two minutes here.
Our next stop was the parking lot for the Sulphur Works and we arrived at 4:05. The first thing we saw were these lovely flowers. The smell in the area was not as pleasant. Definitely a rotten egg smell, which was to be expected. The rocks here were different due to the geothermal activity in the area. It is thought that this is the core of Mount Tehama. Plenty of steam and bubbling mudpots. It was hard to believe that people sort of vacationed here.
We were back in the car at 4:20 and reached the southern Kohm Yah-Mah-Nee Visitor Center at 4:24. Immediately, we saw just how close the Dixie Fire had come. It was really shocking. I know that the rangers and workers were out and it was the firefighters dealing with the blaze, but you know that the former had to be sickened by what they saw on TV.
To the park's credit, as soon as you got in the center, there was info about the fire. It probably saved them repeating it over and over again.
Inside, we found the station to stamp my passport, as well as two shops. I had wanted a t-shirt to commemorate this birthday visit and managed to find one. There were also exhibits on the Native Americans who had originally lived in the park and told a lot about them. There were also exhibits on the European immigrants who came in, as well as exhibits on the nature of the park.
We were very disappointed to see that there was no food to be had.We didn't know if there had been any earlier in the day, but there was none now.
So, when we left at 5:01(24682 on the odometer), we were a little hungry. We were also frustrated that there was still no cell signal. We'd last had it at the Loomis Museum. I'd downloaded the park guide and we'd used it for info along the way. Luckily, there was only one road out- the one we'd been on and we just followed it down to Mineral. Eventually, we got a signal and Google maps.
Outside of the park, we saw equipment and indications that they'd been clearing the trees in the area that had burned. As national parks tend to do, Lassen Volcanic left them in place.
At 5:33, we saw some really ominous clouds and it rained. Then, an alert popped up on the phone saying to avoid the route we were taking because of the possibility of flash flooding and fire debris. So, we turned off the road heading to Chester to stay on 89 as it continued south.
This was rather nerve-wracking, as there was fire debris all around us. We drove through the town of Greenville, which seemed to have an inordinate number of empty lots. There was a sign for a church, but no church. Going to Google, I found out that most of the town had been destroyed by the fire in about 30 minutes. Blessedly, no one was killed. The high school burned down, but other building survived. They've cleared the debris from along the road we were on. Evidently, many people have moved on, while others intend to rebuild.
At 6:21, we found ourselves driving into a sort of canyon in Plumas National Forest (Indian Falls, CA) with all the trees burned to a crisp.
Just after this, 89 joined another road and we turned left onto Rte. 70/89. We soon saw signs of life as we approached Quincy. K decided we should stop to eat, although I was really at the point of just wanting to press on. But, I googled to find recommendations and he chose Sweet Lorraine's Good Food at 384 Main Street. We parked close by at 6:40 (20754).
When we entered, we found ourselves in an area of tables with a bar at the back of the room. Through a door on the far side, we could see outdoor seating. There were two young women handling the few customers inside and the decidedly more outdoors. We were brought menus and had plenty of time to make our choices. I picked Honey Fried Chicken Salad and K ordered Mesquite Chicken and Shrimp with garlic mashed potatoes, vegetable medley and salad for $19.95. ( I didn't make note of my price.) We both had Diet Coke to drink.
It took a while for the food to come, but it was worth it. It was a really delicious meal.
If you plan to eat here, be aware that there is only one restroom and it is seriously old.
When we left at 7:50, I was driving and we noted that we'd come down to 5000 feet. I'd gotten a call from the woman manning the desk at the Inn at Truckee making sure we were still coming. I thought that odd, since I knew the desk was manned until 10. Nevertheless, I wasted no time getting us down the road.
At 8:37 on Rte. 89, just a bit south of Calpine, we caught a beautiful sunset. I paused long enough to take photos.
Soon, I was driving along a river in a forest in the dark. I have no idea what the terrain was like.
We'd had a hard time finding a hotel at a reasonable price in the Lake Tahoe area. We found, we had to look farther and farther away from the lake. We'd wound up with the Inn at Truckee, which we found to be absolutely nothing special when we arrived at 9:25 (24825). We'd requested room 104 through the hotel widget. It was chosen, because the hotel has no elevator and we didn't want to drag our luggage upstairs.
The room was rather dark, as the photo shows. A dresser with a TV on it was across from the bed. Since we tend not to spend a lot of time in the room, we figured it would do.
It had been a long day and we had to get up in the morning for Mass. So, we didn't stay up late.
My phone recorded 9,293 steps for 3.1 miles. It had been a very good 65th birthday.
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