Tahoe Ho!

The first vacation of my life was at Lake Tahoe. I was born in Sacramento, CA. Practically my whole family has a love affair with Tahoe. During my high school years we had a cabin a few miles from the lake and my mom would spend the entire summer there with various family members visiting off and on (I am the youngest of seven siblings and there were always numerous nieces and nephews coming along).

Since Mary had not really experienced Lake Tahoe, I was anxious to share it with her. We stayed on the Nevada side at Zephyr Cove campground. The campground is very nice and fairly large. Our site, however, was right along the highway and quite noisy. It was okay though, since we didn’t hang around the campsite much.

The weather was clear and cool, but actually felt quite warm in the sunshine. Mary and I enjoyed hiking the Pacific Crest trail both north and south from Hwy 50. Hiking among the huge granite slabs with blue sky and blue water is breathtaking (especially at 8,000 ft elevation). I actually took the first hike of my life at Tahoe. The hike is a steep one-mile up granite slabs from Emerald Bay to Eagle Lake. At the age of sixteen my high school girlfriend and I started out with our picnic lunch and “Mickey Mouse” thermos. We never made it to Eagle Lake. Somehow, we lost the trail and got stuck on some very large boulders that are much easier to climb up than down. We turned back after “Mickey” fell off a boulder and got shattered to pieces. I finally made it to Eagle Lake almost 40 years later with Mary.

I always remember the Tahoe area as smelling especially “piney”. I finally found out why. I had always assumed that most of the pines were Ponderosas, but Mary discovered that the vast majority are Jeffrey pines. These pines are especially aromatic and if you stick your nose near the bark you can smell the aroma of butterscotch or vanilla. Neither of us had heard of Jeffrey pines before. As it turns out, Jeffreys are only prevalent in the High Sierras and are dominant over Ponderosas at higher elevations.

Tahoe is an interesting combination of exceptional natural beauty, tacky development, smoky noisy casinos, the clearest water I have ever seen in a large lake, broad open spaces, beautiful houses and bad traffic. The different communities around the lake each have their own character. Some are boating oriented, others snow skiing, the Stateline areas have the casinos, and there are a whole lot of small national forest campgrounds and beaches all around the lake. Except for the few large casinos most of the lodging options are small family owned motels and resorts with a few of the larger chain motels scattered about. Unfortunately the water is quite cold even in the height of summer, but boating, water skiing, sailing and beach going is very popular, and because the lake is so large (22 miles by 12 miles) it is never crowded on the water.

My sisters Margie, Cheryl and Tammy, and my brother Tim joined us for a few days. It was great to see them, and to relive some of the old Tahoe memories and stories. Margie’s daughter Christie and grandkids also joined us for an afternoon.

Mary and I bade farewell to Tahoe on September 20^th which also happens to be our anniversary. We weren’t sure how far we could drive, but our goal was to be in a place with some good restaurants for our anniversary dinner. Luckily, we were able to make it all the way to Bend, OR. Jack and Nancy had recommended the Pines Tavern Restaurant and we were finally able to eat there. The food was really good and they even gave us free Crème Brule!

This trip made us realize the wonderful natural and manmade diversity that California has to offer, and on a large scale too. Mary and I have both lived in California before and we don’t really want to live there again, but we do think it would be great to spend the better part of a year exploring the full-range of California, enjoying summer in the mountains, winter in the desert and spring or fall on the coast or in the vineyards. No other state has every climate and habitat like California does.

We got home on September 21^st and now it is time to prepare for fall and winter. We are scheduling an open house for the weekend of October 22-23 as a last-ditch effort to sell the house before winter sets in. We are having a contest to see if I can win the lottery before we sell the house. Right now it looks neck and neck.

The road to Yosemite

Bob and I left our campsite at Mt. Lassen, uncharacteristically early so that we might have time to investigate Mono Lake after we arrived at our next campsite in the small town of Lee Vining, outside of Yosemite. It was a lovely day and the traffic was light that early, but between Reno and Carson City we had a blowout on the freeway. Fortunately it was a tire on the RV and we had a decent shoulder to pull off on. It took two hours for the tow truck to arrive and change the tire. We were unable to find a new one in Carson City on a Sunday, so we got a spot in a local RV park and had to wait until the tire stores opened on Monday morning.

On the way through Reno, before the tire POP, we had commented on a billboard that said that Kenny Loggins was in concert for that night ONLY. What a great way to spend the evening instead of being distressed about the tire and our delay. So we got tickets and went to the show, which was FANTASTIC!! Kenny, now 63, still has a perfect voice and tons of energy. He moved around the stage and the audience and did many old favorites. I once had tickets to see Kenny in San Francisco in 1986, but instead of going to the concert, I went to Yosemite with a friend from England. Now here I was on my way to Yosemite, and instead I went to see Kenny Loggins. Weird? Yes, but so exciting and serendipitous.

On Monday we got a new tire and landed at the RV park with enough time to visit Mono Lake. It’s quite an interesting place! Very salty water filled with brine shrimp and alkali flies. I did not enjoy the flies, but did see some interesting birds. Many migratory birds stop here to feed on the shrimp and flies during their long trip between the arctic and South America, and many California gulls from the coast nest here. The lake also has fantastic formations called tufas that build underwater where fresh water springs enter the salt water

Yosemite is truly spectacular. Tioga Pass is 9,945 feet and many of the upper park roads are above 8,000. We did some steep hikes at elevations up to and over10,000 feet and it is really tough for us sea-level folks. The Tuolumne meadows area is spectacular and filled with granite domes and steep cliffs. Bob and I loved the hike up Lembert Dome and we spent a few hours on the joint John Muir and Pacific Crest Trail where we came upon two deer who were eating mushrooms and were reluctant to leave their feast because two humans had entered the area.

Bob and I spent one day in upper Yosemite and one day in the valley. I have to admit that we didn’t like the valley as much. We hiked to Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite Falls and Vernal Falls, all of which were flowing like crazy. This is unusual in the fall, but we did have thunder and lightening storms yesterday. On our way into the park this morning we actually encountered snow on the road. There were lots of people in the valley and it was interesting to see that many were from Europe. We ran into a large group from the Czech Republic and several from the UK.

Next time we come to Yosemite, I think we’ll skip the valley and spend all of our time in Tuolumne Meadows and the upper park. We barely scratched the surface there.

Mt. Lassen - 10,457 feet

I had visited Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1990 and had always wanted to return here. This was Bob’s first visit to this amazing and diverse park. We love it here!

Hiking is high on the agenda for this entire trip and there are so many wonderful and varied hikes. We started with the Lassen Peak trail, but after 1.3 miles the trail was closed for repairs. The views were superb but we were at about 9,500 feet and a strong cold wind was threatening to blow us off our feet. A nice ranger guarding the gate took our photo. We’ll have to come back and do the whole trip to the top another time.

We also ventured into Bumpass Hell, an area of bubbling mud pots, steam vents, fumaroles and boiling ponds, replete with the smell of sulphur. The hiss and thunder of the steam vents was quite erie. These thermal features are constantly changing and a reminder of how active this whole area still is. Mt. Lassen had major eruptions in 1914 and 1915, but it has been quiet since 1921.

At the higher elevations we encountered snowfields along the road and trails. Often we had to slog over these patches of snow even though it was hot and most of the trail was very dry and dusty. We did find several lush green meadows and fields of prolific wild flowers. Yes, “spring” has finally arrived here at Lassen in mid-September.

Lassen National Park is one of the few places on earth that has four types of volcanoes: composite, plug dome, cinder and shield. Around these various volcanic mountains are lakes, streams and forests of pine, fir and manzanita. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife.

The most challenging and interesting hike at Lassen was Cinder Cone. The trail went almost straight up and was comprised of soft sand and cinder pebbles. But it was worth the climb! We had spectacular views of Mt. Lassen and were able to walk down into the cone. All around we could see the lava that flowed out from the bottom and also the painted sands that formed when hot cinders landed on them.

A ranger suggested we go into Redding and see the Sundial bridge, so one evening we did just that. They had a rib cook-off and free concert in the park nearby and we enjoyed wandering around. After dark we walked the pedestrian only bridge which spans the Sacramento river. My how it has grown since that gusher coming out of the park in Mt. Shasta! The bridge has a frosted glass deck that is lit from beneath and it is quite beautiful at night.

There are so many trails still unexplored here that I’m sure we will come back again. And we need to make the trek all the way to the top on that trail that was closed for repairs.

Mt. Shasta - 14,165 feet

Bob and I decided to take one last road trip this summer before the cold weather sets in. We missed the California mountains on our big journey since it was winter on our way south in January 2010 and also on way home in April 2011, so this is our chance to visit those sites.

Our first stop was Mt. Shasta in northern California. We have both visited this area in the past, but this was our first time here together. Shasta is a mystical, magical mountain and draws spiritual seekers from all over the globe. We heard many foreign languages on the trails and even saw a group of monks and nuns at the highest parking lot.

This was such a late spring/summer in the west that we hadn’t been able to do any hiking in Washington until a few weeks ago when we did get to Mt. St. Helens and also to Mt. Rainier. Now we are at another volcano in the long chain that runs down the west. It was fabulous to get out on the trail to South Gate Meadow, which is high up on Mt. Shasta at about 9,000 feet. From the trail we could see Mt. Lassen in the distance and the coast range. We also visited Panther Meadow a little lower on the mountain. We are trying to adjust to the altitude, the heat and the dryness – all new concepts for us.

Right in the town of Mt. Shasta, is a city park where you will find water pouring out of the side of the hill. Locals come and fill their containers here with this precious clear water that has taken 50 years to filter through the mountain before gushing into a stream. This is the headwaters of the Sacramento river and we filled every empty container we had with this delicious water.

We also visited with Catherine who was on our dolphin trip this year. She owns a fantastic store in town called Soul Connections. If you find yourself in Mt. Shasta, don’t miss this amazing collection of books, gifts, musical instruments, clothes, etc. It’s right on the main street.

Bob and I also drove out to McCloud falls and hiked from the lower to the middle falls. It was lovely along the water and we enjoyed the respite from the high elevation of the mountain. Later that day we hiked at Castle Lake where Bob got to do a little swimming. This area reminded us very much of the Sierras.

We spent three nights here in Shasta and found the energy of the mountain to be very grounding and calming. I actually felt sleepy a lot. I was also drawn to look for Sasquatch on every trail and twist and turn in the mountain roads, but no luck – this time.