Crater Lake, Lava Beds & Lassen Volcano - August 31

---

Leaving Fort Klamath the next morning, we turned the wrong way and had to manoeuver a three-point turn in the middle of the road to turn around, not an easy thing for a 33-foot motor home. During the turn Kayla noticed that the sewer cap was not on and the valves were not closed, so we were trailing the remains of our (thankfully) empty tanks on the road. Richard pulled off the side of the road, rectified the situation, and we were consulting a map when he saw flashing blue and red lights behind us.

Senior State Trooper Joseph Smith had a lot of questions as to who we were, where we were going and why we were going the wrong way to get to Klamath Falls. When Richard explained the route we wanted to take, Trooper Smith was very helpful in giving us a state map, directions we needed to take a lesser traveled scenic route, and his card in case we needed any further help while in the area, adding a further admonishment to ‘watch for midges that splatter the windshield’. Along this stretch of road Kayla spotted a bear, which was a morning bonus after the excitement of meeting Trooper Smith.

We crossed into California, and decided to see Lava Beds National Park which was nearby. Kayla proudly pulled out her $10 American Citizen lifetime national park access pass for seniors at the toll booth. It was the first time she used it since Maui last February.

This was a very hot, sunny, dry day, but the lava tubes, chimneys and ropey formations were fascinating, so we wandered around and among the formations, enduring the mid-day heat anyway. Kayla took many bracketed photos in order to reduce the high contrast of the blazing sun on the formations. What you see here is a result of blending those images to bring out the detail and reduce the contrast.

Most people come to Lava Beds National Park to visit the caves, which are abundant. Richard doesn’t do caves (except for Luray in Virginia), so we stayed outside in the searing heat and peered into the lava tubes. It was surprisingly cool in them.

After a long, tortuous drive on pot-holey partly-paved road, we arrived at Hat Creek Hereford Ranch where we had lucked out and booked a reservation earlier, having called just after a cancellation, and being told we had to book a minimum of three days, so we agreed to pay for all three even though we were only staying one night. Anyway, you get the picture. This was the Labour Day Weekend. The RV Park was crammed with families and a gathering of hang gliders. Not too many snowbirds come this way. No internet. No Liberty Hot Spot. No cell service.

On our way the next morning, we decided to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park which wasn’t too far out of the way and still working towards Lake Tahoe – sort of. It looked interesting on the map. Having done no research beforehand, (this trip is serendipity, remember) we didn’t know that this park has absolutely no parking for RV’s our size. Or RV’s of any size, for that matter. In fact, there were no other RV’s even driving through. This should have been a clue for us, but on up we went anyway. No one said we couldn’t!

The road through Lassen winds up and up and around and around to 11,000 feet, then goes all the way back down again. There were so many beautiful spots to stop, but the cars were packed in and we couldn’t even get into the parking lots with our big rig. Kayla was disappointed as we drove through the alpine near to summit and saw gorgeous alpine lakes, beautiful mountains, tons of people enjoying the high mountain air, and we were unable to stop until part-way down again. We were finally able to stop at a hydrothermal area, which was interesting, but just not the same as the beautiful area at the top.

Leaving Lassen, we drove on more mountain roads as we travelled on, still heading towards Lake Tahoe. As the afternoon wore on, we realized that Lake Tahoe was just a bit farther than we thought it was. OK, it was a LOT farther than we thought it was. So we called Kayla’s cousin to say we would be arriving some time that evening instead of mid-afternoon as originally planned. Then, unknowingly, we took the most narrow, windy road possible around the bottom of Lake Tahoe instead of the most direct route up and over, arriving at their home just as it was getting dark. It was interesting trying to manoeuver the RV into the narrow space right next to their trailer, but eventually, with much shouting, arm-waving, direction-giving, and a few loud “STOP’s”, we got in, there to stay put for a few days.

---