HEADED NORTH to MT LASSEN

Seeing double on the west side of Lake Almanor.

It was about time that we ventured beyond our backyard. It had been 2 years since we had spent time up near Shasta and decided to head north. The last time we stayed at Lake Almanor en route north, we had a cramped site in a marina on the busier east side. This time, we pulled in and hooked-up and paid our $11.00 for a night before we realized that just around the corner was dry-camping with much more privacy. That would have been our preference. Next time. About 30 minutes after settling in another International Airstream (28') pulled up next to us. A couple from SoCal who spends each summer up here.

 I thought Darrell would love clamping at a marina….WRONG!

Space #15! No Joke!

After that, Almanor was not big on our list, but this time we changed our minds and look forward to the next time we take the 50 mile trip up Highway 89. Since it is so close to us, we decided to keep moving towards Shasta. We took the long way, up 8,500 feet, to the observatory site at Mt Lassen National Park. The park is huge and we left a lot of it for a later return, but WOW! what we did see was amazing. The magnitude of the Park's breathtaking raw beauty was impossible for me to capture in my photographs, but here are my futile attempts.

Me and Spark, and the Big Egg perched precariously on a high cliff. Tiny specs are we.

Mt Lassen

The scenery was incredibly varied; lots of switchbacks, volcanic peaks, green and yellow vegetation, blue lupine, blue sky,water falls and streams, craggy peaks, all splendid. You gotta GO! The National Park System has done an remarkable job of creating well thought out pullouts, viewing areas, hiking areas, educational information, and tent camping. However, the RV camping around the lower lakes was a bit too dense for us.

Each view is staggering.

Mt Lassen at lower levels has lots of streams from snow runoff.

Fall was in the air, clear skies, cooler temps, and an abundance of fall colors.

GPS Station, the cell reception was exceptional at the lookout.

Happy Travelers.