Redwood/Lassen Day 8 Saturday July 23, 2022

 We got an incredible breakfast downstairs (custom-made omelettes) then made the very short drive to the airport.  We got there ridiculously early, in hindsight, because it took maybe 2.5 minutes to get through the security line. 

Our flight was uneventful - I finished the 4th Hunger Games book - and we drove over to Sally's house, picked up our happy dog and drove home.

August 1, 2022 - just a quick update - there's now a 50,000 acre raging wildfire on the California/Oregon boarded - I think it's exactly where we were driving the second day of our trip.  There's also a fire outside of Yosemite and many, many others.  

Redwood/Lassen Day 7 Friday July 22, 2022

 We packed up and left the house this morning a little after 8am.  

We drove to Berkley, parked at “Northgate”, ate at La Burrita (“Fine Mexican Food” – which it was not) then spent a short amount of time walking through the Berkley campus.  It was pretty and of course, the people were bizarre.

From Berkley we drove across the Bay Bridge into San Fran and drove down Lombard Street then parked along the northern shore at Fort Mason and walked about 1.5 miles over to Pier 39 where we enjoyed watching the sea lions. 

I was wearing bad shoes so b/c I couldn’t find any flip flops to buy, Ryan traded my slip on Keds for her Nike Blazers.  We went into several souvenir shops, the kids each got San Fran sweatshirts and we walked back to the car and drove out via the Golden Gate Bridge to the San Rafael Bridge.  It was a beautiful day.  The drive to Sacramento took a long time because of Friday rush-hour traffic but we got to the river-front (Sacramento River) Embassy Suites at 7 (our room looks right out onto a cool bridge crossing the river) and then walked to an amazing, outdoor dinner at Railroads Fish & Chips. 

The people here are whacked. Weed just wafts through the air everywhere but the town and the weather are amazing.  We walked into two different incredible candy stores with throw-back candy then walked back to the room after stopping and listening to a young girl and her younger brother play live street music (she – vocals and keyboard and he – guitar).  They drew quite the diverse, dancing crowd.   It’s 9:20pm now, Grant is flicking my leg because he is basically 5, and we’re about to watch a movie and go to bed. 

Grant thought San Fran was amazing.   We leave tomorrow around noon.  This trip was really great and we’ve now been taking these trips for 11 years.  I can’t believe we’ve been to 50 of these parks. 

Redwood/Lassen Day 6 Thursday July 21, 2022

This day was a bit more leisurely.  We hung around the house (I finished my puzzle) and we didn’t leave for the park until 10:30. We got to the Terrace Lake trailhead at 11:30 and hiked down first to Terrace Lake, then to Shadow Lake where we stopped and finished the last of our pepperoni, cream cheese and Ritz crackers, then slugged on to Cliff’s Lake – stunning.  At Cliff’s Lake we got in just a little bit and there were tadpoles of all sized swimming around, looking just like sperm.  The lake is tiny but it has a full island on it, complete with trees.  Then we had a photo shoot for Grant, trying to come up with the best picture that showed off his abs that he could put on Instagram.  Between Ryan and me, I think we took 90 pictures.  But it was hilarious. 

Cliff's Lake

 The hike was basically straight down to the three lakes, followed by straight back up.  We started at 8,500 ft so needless to say, it was hard on the return stretch.  I think it was a 700 ft drop and about 4 miles round trip.  But very beautiful.  And again, the kids were a blast.  On the way back we took a beautiful picture in front of Shadow Lake with Lassen Peak in the background.

I think we got back around 2 but can’t actually remember.  Before leaving the park for the last time, we took a left at a road in front of the Manzanita Visitor Center and drove through the campgrounds – stunning – and stopped at the camp store and got ice cream, drinks, etc.  We also bought a Christmas ornament and picked up a magnet for Sally – the lady watching Hooper. 

It was a beautiful day.  When we got back to the house, Ryan and Nick chilled/napped and Grant and I wrapped up our Yahtzee tournament – I won.  Then we watched a couple of episodes of Stranger Things season 4 and ate a leftovers dinner. 

It’s 8:30 now, we’re basically all packed up, and the kids are starting the fire for one last round of s’mores.  Tomorrow, we head into the city and then head home on Saturday.  This trip has been a dream. 

Redwood/Lassen Day 5 Wednesday July 20, 2022

 

Today was slightly epic.  We got up pretty early, left the house a little after 7 and arrived at the Lassen  Peak trailhead around 8:15. This is a 2.5mi climb with 2,000 feet of elevation gain, starting at ~8,500 ft. and climbing to 10,500.  Needless to say, we had to stop and catch our breath many times.  I think it took a couple of hours to make it to the top but the trail was fun, friendly and the views were amazing.  At the “fake summit” the view was beautiful but if you really wanted to make it legit you have to do a ~150 ft. rock scramble to the very top, which we did.  Ryan was light-headed but she did fine.  About half way up we got enough cell service for me to call the sheriff back.  The number he left was not a valid number, which was "sus" so Ryan looked up the main sheriff number, I called from like 10,000 ft. and the lady said it was a scam.  Whew.  Poor Ryan was racking her brain, trying to think of all of the people and cars she may have hit with her car without realizing it (worrisome…but moving on…)

We took some pictures at the top then headed back down, arriving back to the trailhead around 12.  We drove about ½ mile to Helen Lake and ate another go-to pepperoni/cream cheese/Ritz cracker lunch at a picnic table, then walked to the lake and put our feet in.  

The kids skipped rocks for a while (fun!) and then we kept driving in the same direction (further south than we’d be so far) to the main southern entrance/visitor center/café (Kohm-Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center).  This having-to-still-wear-a-mask-thing in all federal buildings is ridiculous and the many people weren’t and the park ranger came over the loud speaker with a panicked voice, reminding us all of the rule.  We grabbed ice creams then got in the car to drive back to the house.

But I must mention the highly inefficient road construction/pilot car system the park has employed all throughout as a means of hiring as many people as possible, with tax payer dollars, to do as little as possible.  We waited about 30 minutes before a pilot car guided us for several miles at 15 mph past 100 feet of road construction. 

We made our way back to the house around 4, relaxed (tv, phones, puzzles), fixed a nice steak dinner, then watched the Blair Witch Project and the kids were FREAKED out.  It was hilarious.  Ryan slept with her night light on.  Grant locked his door and watched iCarly to “decompress” we didn’t make an outdoor fire to roast s’mores.  Instead, Grant made them in the microwave 😊.  The kids are still being great and hilarious and getting along really well.  This has been a super fun trip!

Redwood/Lassen Day 3 Monday July 18, 2022

 We left our house, which we LOVE, at 8:15am and drove to the Manzanita entrance (NW corner).  From there we followed the park road 25 miles (ish) down to the Bumpass Hell trailhead.  Along the way it was crazy to see how much of this park has been burned.  Last year the Dixie fire consumed 60% of the park and the fire we saw was an intentional controlled burn set prior to the Dixie fire.  Had the park service not issued the controlled burn, the entire park would have burned up.  This whole area appears to be in a sad, severe drought.

We hiked the Bumpass Hell trail back to bubbling mud pits, sulfur vents, etc.  It was way cool and it stank. 

From that hike we doubled back to the Kings Creek Falls picnic area and ate our staple trail meal (pepperoni, cream cheese & crackers) then kept driving to the Kings Creek Falls trailhead.  This trail meandered through a lot of the controlled burn area so it lacked shade for much of it (and it’s pretty hot outside).  The falls themselves were underwhelming compared to the picture but we were able to cool off in the stream – get our feet it, dip our bandanas in, etc. and the water was COLD. 

The big joke so far on this trip is that Grant, who usually is in the lead on a hike, will say hello to someone coming the opposite direction and if they say hi back, he does a fist bump with a knee raise because I guess on the first day, no one would say hi back.

From Kings Creek Falls, we continued back to the Manzanita visitor center and got the hat pins, magnets and passbook stamps.

And I ADOPED A PIKA!  I’d said the day before that they only thing that would make this trip perfect would be to see an elusive pika, which I’ve been talking about ever since we went to Rocky Mts NP (I haven’t seen one since I was 16).  The ranger said the best chance to see one would be at the top of Mt Lassen so now I’m totally excited to hike that trail.

We walked down to Manzanita Lake but opted against doing the entire loop because we got plenty of hiking in already. 

Then we drove into the town of Shingletown for ice cream at Scoops, served by a crazy stoned lady who told the kids she’s from Humble County, where the very best weed is grown. 

We went into The Man Cave next door to Scoops, a strange store that a very old man owns.  He makes all the signs in the store.  We saw an interesting one on the fence outside the store.

We then ran into the Chevron station for a lighter and fire starters then got back to the house around 4 or 5.

Ryan texted Ben and Grant and I played Yatzee. We had frozen pizzas and salad for dinner, watch a slightly good movie on Netflix called The Adam Project and then sat by the fire circle.  Grant had either 7 or 8 s’mores.  Ryan got into a football conversation with Ben (who plays football for Jesuit) and confessed she knows very little about the sport so Grant agreed to teach her the game.  This was followed by a lengthy discussion between Grant, Ryan (Ben) and myself about the proper way to cook a marsh mellow.  Ryan and I are in the golden-brown camp.  Grant is in the “totally on fire” camp.  Ben agreed with Grant (they’ve never met) so now Grant thinks Ben’s an ok guy which I think means a lot to Ben, who’s been trying to earn Grant’s respect 😊 (BTW, Grant and Ben have been on one lunch date and none of us have met him yet!)

In bed, crashing at 10pm!

Redwood/Lassen Day 4 Tuesday July 19, 2022

 

We took an “off day” today and left the house at 8ish and drove to Burney Falls St Park.  It’s about an hour drive from here.  The falls were beautiful and the 1 mi hike around the falls was great, except that Ryan left here shoes here at the house and had to hike in Birkenstocks.  

We saw an incredible bird Steller’s Jay with a big black head and big blue jay body.  From there, since we had no service, we asked the park ranger for directions to the Stand by Me bridge.  It was 5 minutes away and the best view was from the road we were on.  It crosses a skinny part of Lake Britton.  You couldn’t walk on it but we got some good pictures and then watched the movie tonight!

We want to hike Lassen Peak tomorrow but had read that your shoes have to have great traction and Grant only brought/has running shoes so we stopped in the town of Burney at the one sporting goods store (Burney’s Sporting Goods) and they had one pair on display and the tag read “last pair” and they were Grant’s size.  Amazing.  Otherwise, we’d have had a two-hour drive into Redding.

We bought the shoes and Ryan got a small stuffed black bear for Ben (as a joke – he’d said he’d risk it all to hug one – he loves bears). Then we ran into subway and grabbed some chips and more Hershey’s bars and drove back to the house, stopping along the way to get a proper 50^th Park picture in front of the good national park sign.  We were stopped for road construction so we left the car and ran across the street (and talked to the cute construction worker).

We got back to the house at noon and hung here the rest of the day.  The kids were on their phones, I worked a puzzle, Nick took a nap, Grant and I played more Yahtzee and then, the best part of the day was the kids cooked dinner – pancakes, eggs, bacon and fruit.  It was delicious.

After dinner we watched Stand by Me and while we were watching, I was clearing out missed calls and almost deleted a voicemail I’d received yesterday from the Dallas County Sheriff’s office calling me about a legal matter. 

This is a bit concerning given we have no cell service basically anywhere. Fingers crossed it’s nothing.

Now we’re off to bed and getting up early tomorrow to tackle Mt Lassen.  Let’s take a moment of silence to say a pika sighting prayer!

Redwood/Lassen Day 2 Sunday July 17, 2022

 

This morning we grabbed a decent breakfast in the lobby then drove north from Klamath up towards Crescent City, CA.  We first stopped at Crescent Beach (not as beautiful as Crescent Beach, OR) but then drove to the Hiouchi Visitors Center, grabbed our swag then drove to the Grove of Titans trailhead and hiked the trail (2-3ish miles)?  Some of the biggest trees in all of Redwood were along this trail. 

From there we continued SW on Howland Hills Rd (so we basically made a full circle) but this time we went into Crescent City and had a great lunch at The Apple Peddler.  We filled up with $6.00 gas and drove out on Hwy 199 to Grant’s Pass, OR.  Yes, we totally threw out our plans from the night before.  This route added some distance to the trip but it was beautiful.  We went through Grant’s Pass, OR, then Medford, OR (where we stopped at a McDonalds and decided that you can tell people are from Oregon just by looking at them).  We got to Redding around 4:30 and grabbed a bunch of groceries at Safeway then drove to our house, just east of Shingletown, CA.  It was 109 in Redding but 90 in Shingletown.  The house is amazing.  I’d love to rip out the carpet and make a few upgrades but dang, I love the lot.  We sit on a creek but a little too far to be able to hear it.  There’s no AC but it’s 8:40pm right now and plenty cool to sleep.

We cooked some pasta and chicken then sat out by the fire circle and the kids made s’mores.  Ryan’s been talking to a boy Ben so we talked about him quite a bit. 

Ry and Grant are getting along great.  This has been very fun.  Hopefully the real fun begins tomorrow!

Redwood/Lassen Day 1 July 16, 2022

 

We left the house this morning at 7:15am after dropping Hooper off with Sally (our new dog sitter through Rover) last night.  We ran through the McDonalds drive thru so that Grant could get a McGriddle and then drove to DFW.  The kids and Nick got to go through the TSA pre-check line and my line was about 30 minutes long but no problem because we got there in plenty of time.  

The kids & nick waiting for me...

Our flight to Sacramento left at 9:20 but then we were delayed for about 40 minutes because the pilot had to “reboot a computer.  Hmm. But luckily it was an uneventful flight.   After we arrived at the airport, we took a shuttle to the rental car area and got a minivan through Avis.  It was our lucky day because we got a Sienna Hybrid.  And I’d already decided that gas was going to be $10/gallon, our car was going to get 20mpg, we were going to drive 1200 miles and thus, we would be spending $600 on gas.  BUT our car gets 30mpg and gas is between $5.50 and $7.00/gal so score!

We stopped north of the airport and the kids got In-and-Out Burger and Nick and I grabbed sandwiches at some place called Sourdough (good!).

We then drove up through Redding and over to Redwood NP/Klamath.  So…the car registered 110 degrees in Redding and the place is suffering an extreme drought.  But at the same time, we could see Mt Shasta with snow on it.  This place could just burst into flames at any minute.  Even the trees seem to be dying. 

The drive all the way from Redding to the coast was WINDY (as in the road winded left and right, up and down through mountains).  Ryan got car sick.

We stopped at a little store and grabbed a gallon of water and snacks then kept driving.

We’re staying at a Holiday Inn Express in Klamath so we had to drive through the southern half of the park in order to get here.  The park is strange in that it doesn’t have a typical national park sign/entrance/visitor center because it’s also a state park, along with several other state parks so it’s a bit strange but the trees are amazing.  We checked in at 7:30pm CA time (9:30 Dallas) then ate at the Abalone Grill next door (inside the casino) and we’re now back in our room and it’s about 60 outside.  Driving up 101, it looked exactly like Oregon.  We’re only staying tomorrow morning then heading back the way we came – I’m not sure I’ve given us enough time here but oh well.

One day down, 49 parks seen.  Tomorrow is the Ossagon Trail then a small waterfall, the visitor center then on to Lassen.