Saturday 8 September 2018 After a pleasant night at Packwood Lodge we drive up to Ohanapecosh visitor center and campground. We buy a map and yet another geology book. We chat with a ranger who suggests we walk the Grove of the Patriarchs and see Silver Falls. Our morning is spent exploring these paths. There are indeed ancient and awesome cedars and firs in the Grove. We drive to the
Friday 7 September 2018 Packwood, Washington We have a smooth drive to Packwood, Washington which is very close to Ohanapecosh Campground, the meeting place for our Sierra Club trip. Just after we exit I-5 we stop to buy some pie for dessert later this evening. We enjoy a lovely lunch in Morton at Rivers Coffeehouse and Bistro. At our motel in Packwood, we gather all of our gear and weigh
Thursday 6 September 2018 Corvallis, Oregon We rise early today, break camp at Jed Smith and drive north into Oregon. In southern Oregon we are back in hazy forest fire smoke. By the time we reach Grants Pass where we stop for breakfast, the smoke has lessened. We stay in Corvallis, Oregon for the night so we can spend a few hours catching up with my cousin, R. It is
Wednesday 5 September 2018 Although we fully intended to get an earlier start today, O and I do not arrive at the Prairie Creek visitor center until about 11:30. We are not on the trail until noon. Once again we wind our way through a forest of incredibly tall trees. With redwoods above and lush ferns below this place has an other worldly feel about it. It is five miles
Tuesday 4 September 2018 Apparently, if one wishes to hike among redwoods, Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park is the place to go. We begin the day by having breakfast in Crescent City and checking out of our motel. We spent a peaceful night at Jedediah Smith State Park last night, but it was cheaper to keep our two night motel reservation than to change to a one night stay as
Monday 3 September 2018 O and I spend the morning catching up on the everyday tasks we have been ignoring while hiking Lassen. For the first time since this summer’s trip began my blog is up to date! We get laundry done and reorganize Vincent. Finally we drive to Jed Smith State Park. Just a short distance north of Crescent City we enter an entirely different world. The redwoods lining
Sunday 2 September 2018 Sunday of Labor Day weekend is a good time to leave a campground. Only one night of campfire smoke and revelry and then on to a new location. We drive westward again through Redding which was recently in so much peril from the Carr Fire. We have a delicious breakfast at a restaurant called Deja Vu. As we leave town we see hillsides covered with brown
Saturday 1 September 2018 Today we drive 34 miles to the north side of Lassen Volcanic Park to climb Cinder Cone, our 3rdvolcano in as many days. This is a 7 mile loop hike, up the cinder cone, around its inner and outer rim, then down the opposite side, past the Ah-ah lava and the Painted Dunes and back to where we began. It seems as if it should be
Friday 31 August 2018 Lassen Peak is approximately 27,000 years old. Prior to that layers of lava from Tehama built up the mountain to a level about even with today’s trailhead parking area, this according to a display near the start of the hike. Then a vent opened up allowing lava to pile up into the 2000 foot dome O and I have decided to climb today. We actually manage
Thursday 30 August 2018 Brokeoff Mountain is the eroded remains of an ancient volcano named Mount Tehama. From its summit several other peaks which were once part of the volcano can be viewed. An imaginary line linking them all together shows the enormous size of the peak.Tehama was 11 miles across and 11,500 feet high. It was active approximately 500,000 years ago. Brokeoff Mountain is 9,235 feet high. The climb