Road Trip California!

I couldn't be happier when I saw Michelle come down the escalator in the Sacramento Airport. It felt like an eternity since I've seen her.  We're lucky enough to have a whole ten days together to explore Northern California.

Strangely enough, the first few places Michelle and I went on our road trip were spots the PCT also passes through. Even a random scenic overlook had the PCT running right through it. We spent the first couple days in Lassen Volcanic National Park (LVNP).

Bumpass' Hell

This place was like a mini-Yellowstone, with bigger mountains. We walked through the horribly smelly (due to the sulfur) Bumpass' Hell trail. This trail featured  a tons of volcanic activity like mud pots, steam vents, and boiling pools. All of which are connected to the active volcanoes in the park like Lassen and the Cinder Cone.

Looking into the crater of the Cinder Cone volcano.

Lassen Peak was closed for trail maintenance so we opted for the Cinder Cone. It was an incredible experience to climb this conical cone of ash. We actually got to hike into the very center of the volcano, where it erupted in the 1650s.

Michelle in front of the Cinder Cone. The trail is wrapping up the right side up the cone; its way steeper than it looks!

Our next destination is Redwoods National Park, but on the way we made a couple of really cool stops. The first was a walk though a lava tube called the Subway Cave. This was a pretty cool free entry cave that was formed by an underground lava flow.

Burney Falls

We also stopped by Burney Falls, an incredible 129ft waterfall that is fed by beautiful blue spring water. The spring actually comes out of the ground 3/4 of a mile up stream from the Falls, and is dry above that point. This area is so dry that this gorgeous waterfall seems very out of place. It's not something to pass by if you're in the area.

The Redwoods are truly majestic. I'm so happy that they are now preserved, and also disturbed by how people had justified in clear cutting most of their native range.  These trees feel so ancient that I felt like a dinosaur was going to come around the corner any second.

Can you see Michelle in this Redwood?

There are several Redwoods on private land that have been tunneled into for cars to drive through as a tourist attraction. Its only five dollars, and well worth it.  The tree below was tunneled through in the early 1900s and is still growing strong.

After the Redwoods we went backpacking along the Lost Coast.  This is a largely undeveloped stretch of coast on BLM land in Northern California. We saw enough people that I wouldn't call this place "lost", but it was still an amazing experience to backpack on the beach.  There were sections of trail/beach that were impassable during high tide, so we just had to plan on hitting these sections at low tide. 

Walking on the Lost Coast.

 To be continued....