Misdirection trip – Family Part

Monday (Oct 27)

There are two other campers on this large lot. The hub and wife crew troop by early this morning to hit the Eternal Showers. Then later they get in their truck as if to leave, but instead drive over right next to the showers and hang for another hour. But what does this mean to ME, you ask?

Well, I was on my second cup of nice black tea with milk, thinking about hitting the showers myself. So I dawdled over my tea long enough for them to have their fill and leave for real. I hustled over to their spot to hit the showers myself.

Then came The Hunters. While I was just spacing around enjoying the empty spot, there came a sturdy SUV full of sturdy men. Two dads and two mid-teen boys. Who were all taciturn and aloof and borderline unpleasant. This of course made me stay longer; it was kind of cool, I detailed my “kitchen counter”, gouging out the little crud buildups in the corners which I hadn’t done for a year or so. In my mind I will do this all the time when I get a house with a van-friendly parking area, but as of now, I never do it, but today was the day when time stretched just the right way that I wanted to do it. It felt really good to little bout of domesticity.

I think the rude, untalkative hunters were karmic payback for my not talking to the dude watching sunset from outside his motor home last night. He clearly wanted to talk, but at that instant I was in “stoned silence mode” to sunset without words. Later I felt bad and realized he could have told me many interesting things about the place (like where he takes his canoe) … so my loss.

Then I leave, with regrets about not staying for days. Then more beautiful top of the world scenery, then straight down 1500′ to what turned out to be a mid-level, then wind around a while then  down another 1200′, to the marshy flatlands separated by low rounded hills kind of landscape I know from before, with the massive cliff face of the mesa behind me.

Lakeview FAIL, which I didn’t mind because I pinned all my hopes on Alturas, but at Alturas I had to do the NWR first, then it was too late to hang out. I did check out the Alturas coffee place (an adjunct of an old hotel – looked very cool), but it’s almost dark, so I should press on to Howard’s Gulch, then … Howard’s Gulch FAIL!

I turn off the highway at the sign, and immeidately, the road is barred – yuck. I get the van turned around – this is not a good place to stop, and once I’m around ready to study my options I see a little gravel road heading down the embankment on the other side of the road. It doesn’t go far before there is a gate, but right before the gate is a level pull-off area, and I decide that is tonight’s campsite.

Tuesday

This worked very well! No one has bothered me, it was quieter than many campgrounds … but there is not much incentive to hang around. Overnight I made some changes to my next few days plan to simplify my driving life a little, and I am excited to get on with it.

New plan: drive straight to Daily Bagel and soak up wifi and goodies and caffiene for an hour or so then spend the rest of the day noodling around the Klamath Wildlife Refuge complex, then end up at the excellent Lava Beds Campground tonight. Sweet plan, huh?

I do these things.

1. Daily Bagel – the New York (lox, cream cheese, capers, onion, lettuce, tomat0 on a poppyseed bagel), plus coffee, pus a blueberry danish, because I spoil myself.
2. get diesel – 21 gallons, most ever, I think! – forgot I was in Oregon, where another human has to pour it for you.
3. South Klamath Lake Auto Tour:
   ring-necked pheasant
   many, many red tailed hawks, closest looks ever for me
   a coyote
   a noble 10-12 point mule deer buck
   northern harrier
   Northern Spoonbill, (I think) buffleheads and redheads
   Clarks grebes
   Sandhill crane (couldn’t stop to get a good look ):
4. Tule Lake Auto Tour
   Clarks grebes and these funky little grubby grebes close to shore in the weeds
   northern harrier
   Northern Spoonbill, (I think) buffleheads and redheads
   a herd of mule deer
   snow geese
5. stoned drive through the empty Lava Beds at sunset
6. find my campsite amidst the high school chaos
7. moonlight hike to the Visitors Center and back

The moonlight hike really was fun and exhilarating. There’s something about picking out your path as a kind of spectral lightness in the gloom ahead that really, really turns me on.

Wednesday

Lovely night’s sleep here in the scrub pines. I went out late last night to (fail to) find the bathroom, and it was striking how DARK it got after that quarter moon when down. I expected the moon-washed landscape of a couple of hours ago, so the complete blackout was more of a shock that it was last week when it was dark straight from sunset. Plan this morning is to stop by the Visitors Center and make a plan.

The plan turned out to be to do the boring up and around and back down paved road route rather than the exciting straight through on gravel and unmaintained mountain road route. The possibility of snow on the back road, and the fact that I am really pretty tired of driving and not anxious for adventure at this point on this trip swayed me.

As it turned out, the route I took is quite beautiful for much of the way. The first forty miles I did yesterday – through Lava Beds, through that amazing black lava flow, back up the west side of Tule Lake, under the brow of those beautiful lava flow bluffs that stretch north-south for miles, then turn left on Stateline Road back across South Klamath again – no Sandhill Cranes today, sorry to say. Then is was new territory, but still quite pretty. Coffee and donuts and wifi and a sando to go at Dorris, a great little deli in the middle of nowhere.

This road is memorable for the picture perfect views of Mt Shasta. Amazing how out of scale it is. In all directions are the normal NorCal mountains, at a certain expectedf height on the horizon, then looming in front of you is something you take to be a cloud bank at first, a HUGE snow covered mountain that just dwarfs everything around it.

Then I entered I-5 south at Weed, and the fun was over. It is serious interstate Grand Prix, only two lanes and tons and tons of semis, so even though the mountain scenery is pretty nice, you don’t care because your eyes are glucd to the road on an endless series of 50mph sharp turns back and forth, with a huge truck banking the same curve 4 feet away. Nerve-wracking.

Also, there is no water in Lake Shasta. Come to think of it, Whiskeytown wasn’t nearly as depleted. Whiskey is the same 20′-ish feet down that it always seems to be, but Shasta was 100’s of feet down, quite amazing from the bridge that crosses am arm of the lower part (such as I could see between semis).

Escaped I-5 at the north end of Redding, then it back to the usual fun of driving west into the setting sun to Oak Bottom.

And I made the campground a half hour before dark! Enough time for the post-drive beer AND a lovely walk around the marina.

Tonight is a BIG sport night, the end of the Giants season (game 7 of the World Series!) and the beginning of the Warriors season, (game 1 of 82). So I am very happy to have good bars so I can follow both on the good ole Sportscenter app. I am also happy to report that it was a good night for Bay Area sports – G’s are the champs!, and W’s are 1-0.

Thursday

Today’s task is not to let route 299 beat me down to a pulp as it usually does. I’m chill starting out, and make my leisurely way towards Weaverville. but my mellow was harshed by not one, but two, very long road repair stops. And the most annoying thing was that NOBODY WAS DOING ANY WORK at either spot.  I drive up to the lady waving the STOP sign, turn off the engine, read my book for a while (I never seem to get phone bars at these stops), then the pilot truck comes, the driver shoots the breeze with the flagman for as long as he fucking feels like it, no hurry, then we follow him up the hill. He leads us along the far left lane for a while, then moseys over to the far right lane, for no apparent reason since there was no activity in either lane, then we get to the other end of the “work area” and resume out lives. Twice this happened. I plann was morning coffee at the Strawhouse, which I did eventually did have, but I had it about 40 minutes later than planned, because that’s how long those stupid useless stops took.

Coffee at the Strawhouse was quite nice once I got there, then the rest of the drive through Willow Creek and beyond was pretty normal. There was another of these traffic stops with imaginary construction going on, but the gods of these things spared me this one. I arrived just as the last truck going my was was lumbering through. The sign lady was waving her SLOW sign rather than her STOP sign, so s\was able I tagged on at the end of the line and didn’t have to wait.

Got to Martha’s in time to see the last game of Tyler’s Fall Ball baseball season – slide right into that family thing – cool!

Friday – Tuesday

Five whole days with the family. Highlights:

• Eureka Zoo – river otters! red pandas! bush dogs!
• Arts Alive! – first Saturday of each month – pretty fun night out
• Tyler’s school Halloween Parade and party
• Dining at Bollywood, local place with very good service and very spotty service. We were delighted that they took the time to serve us.
• the Death Valley Troubadours live at Six Rivers Brewery on Halloween!
• birthday breakfast at the Airport Cafe!
• and on the dark downer side, mind-bendingly awful election results on Nov 4, my birthday

Wednesday

Finally time to leave, if I am to make it to First Thursday as I so love to do. Because of the stupid time change it will get dark at Cave Campground a little after five, so i need to start my 4+ hour drive noonish at the latest. I escape 11:40-ish, which works out nicely.

This was the first time I actually enjoyed 299 to Redding. Those long and meaningless traffic stops are gone, and I have the sun at my back this direction. those are a couple of reasons. Also, I was just in the mood for it. There were some nice autumn colors sprinkled into the endless pine forest. It was still tiring, but pleasant tiring for a change.

Then once i’ve driven through Redding, the rest of the drive is a piece of cake, less than an hour to climb out of the Sacramento River Valley, elevation 800′, and 80°, to the outskirts of mighty Mount Lassen, elevation 5200′, and 51°.

It’s almost dark, and quite chilly, and I seem to have gotten a cold again (AARGH), so I don’t hang out outside very long, lovely though it is. After a nap I do rally to take a cold moonlight walk across the road to Subway Caves, a 1/3 mile lava tube made tourist-friendly by the Forest Service. I so love walking in the moonlight.

Thursday

Leave around noon, hit Susanville around 2, cruise into home around 3:30, nap, shower and boom! it’s time for the museum First Thursday Party – woo!