At the end of my first day on the road, I stayed someplace truly fascinating. In the following days, I encountered some breathtaking natural beauty, but nothing that really rises to the level of warranting a post of its own. So here, I'll catch up on days 2 through 5, and get back close to posting about things shortly after they happen.
After leaving Red Rock Canyon, I was soon back a Highway 395, a path I've taken several times before.I stopped in Lone Pine for lunch. One of the goals of my travels is to sample local restaurants, and the rustic-looking (faux log cabin) Bonanza Mexican restaurant in the middle of town caught my eye. I ordered the carne fajitas and they were quite good. Lone Pine is known as a jumping off point for climbing Mount Whitney, and there are great views all along that stretch of the road. Here's a photo I snapped.
On the advice of my friend, Ronald, I stayed at Silver Lake campground on the June Lake loop. It didn't seem that special, pulling in, but then, looking around, it was quite nice. It had great views of the mountains:
and, after following a narrow path through some bushes, there was a wonderful view of Silver Lake:
The most memorable thing about that night, though, was the temperature. I don't know how low it got, but there was thick frost on the ground in the morning. Silver Lake is 7200 ft in altitude. On the factory check out of my RV, I was shown how to turn the LP gas on and off; somehow, it got left in the off position. So, when I reached from my cozy bed in the morning to turn up the thermostat, the furnace wouldn't fire off. I won't make that mistake again. Before taking off, I pulled out the cover I purchased for my bike and installed it for the first time. It took me over 20 minutes and must have been quite a show because the residents of the neighboring campsite turned their chairs so they could watch. Now that I've got all the straps adjusted, it will go on and off pretty quickly.
A short distance north along Highway 395 is Mono Lake (by the way, it's pronounced moe-noe). I've always been intrigued when I've driven by several times before, but this was the first time I stopped. There's worthwhile exhibits in the visitors' center, and a somewhat distant view down to the lake. There's a hiking trail from the visitors' center to the edge of the lake, but don't be fooled: if you get back on 395 and drive less than a mile, there's parking lot puts you within 100 yards of the lake's edge.
The tufas (mineral pillars) there were, as far as I could tell, the best within view, though there may be better ones at the distant eastern shore of the lake.
If you can, change into a spare set of shoes before going down to the lake's edge, because the mud gets very squishy and your shoes will carry away a great deal of it when you return to your car. Unusual for national park treasures, you can get as up close and personal with the lake as you want. I hopped from rock to rock until I was literally surrounded by the lake:
I even got some shots of the infamous black fly swarms (yuck!):
but didn't see any of the brine shrimp.
My destination that evening was South Lake Tahoe. I took the Highway 88/89 turn off of 395, south of Reno. That section of Highway 89 is about as challenging a piece of road you can find in terms of steepness and hairpin turns, and the van handled it with aplomb. At the top of the first climb, I saw the best autumn color so far this trip, a grove of golden yellow trees. Again, on the advice of Ronald, I stayed at the South Lake Tahoe City RV Park. This is an undisputed winner. It's right in the heart of South Lake Tahoe, convenient to everything, but heavily wooded enough that it feels quite rustic. And my site actually had a view of the lake through the trees:
South Lake Tahoe is a happening place, with all sorts of tourist attractions, outdoor sports, and gambling casinos. So, what did I choose for my evening's entertainment? Eating, of course! From years ago, I remembered my brother-in-law Tim taking us to an all you can eat seafood buffet in one of the casinos. A quick check of the web ( the park has free Wi-Fi) revealed it's still there, in Harrah's. As I got off on the 18th floor of the hotel, memories of a 45 minute wait surfaced from the previous trip. Not this time - no wait at all, I got right in. It's pricey, ~$35, but worth it, I would say.
The most memorable items were all you can eat shrimp and crab legs, sushi, and plank-roasted salmon. There's even sliced prime rib, and the Bananas Foster I chose for dessert was not half bad.
The next morning, I headed north along the western shore of the lake. The most interesting spot is Emerald Bay, not far out of town:
In the middle of the bay is Fannette Island:
and on the island is an actual castle called Vikingsholm:
They offer boat tours out to explore the castle, but that's a treat I'm saving for a future visit.
Leaving the lake at its northwest corner, I caught Highway 89 again. I pulled into an nondescript rest stop off the highway to stretch my legs, but it turned out to be the winter camp of the Donner party. What is striking about it is how ordinary it seems.
Highway 89 approaches Mount Shasta from the southeast. Several places along the route, the snow-capped peak appears directly between the pine tree pillars that line either side of the road; a spectacular sight that I'm certain the highway engineers purposely planned. I found the perfect secluded spot to pull over to fix lunch. This was my view out the side door of the van:
After a brief stretch on I-5 west of the mountain, I struck off on Highway 97 headed northeast. My plan had been to stay in MacArthur-Burney Falls State Park, but I had discovered a couple nights earlier that it was full up. So I scrambled around and selected a private RV park nearby: the Hat Creek Hereford Ranch. It turned out to be a nice, bucolic setting, and is in the middle of a working cattle ranch:
I had chosen Burney Falls because it was a convenient halfway point between Lake Tahoe and Crater Lake, but I was unsure about whether the falls themselves were worth seeing. However, the hostess at the RV park was emphatic that I should see them, and boy was she right:
That's at least 129 feet from top to bottom. There's 0.3 mile trail that takes you to the base of the falls, and I was glad I spent the time for that, too:
From Burney Falls, my route took me next to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I was prepared to use my brand new National Park Pass (thank you Amanda and Ben), but there was no one on duty at the entry gate. Coming from the south, the first feature you encounter inside the park is the boiling sulphur mud pots. As the little kid behind me yelled, boy, does this stink!
The major boiling springs of the park are in a section called Bumpass Hell ( I'm not making this up). This giant standing rock marks the trailhead:
I remember taking this hike as a family many years ago, It requires at least an hour, is somewhat strenuous, and I recall being rather underwhelmed (compared to say, Yellowstone), so I passed it by this time. There are plenty of other worthwhile sights in the park, though:
That last is the northern side of Mount Lassen.
A short while after leaving Lassen I pulled in for the night at the Crater Lake Resort RV Park. It was nice enough, but unremarkable. As I was connecting my RV to hook-ups (electricity and water) for the first time, a gentleman about my age pulled up on a really nice motorcycle. He had rented the cabin next to my RV space. I apologized for being crammed in so close to his cabin, and he replied, "Nonsense, that's how we meet one another, and invited me over for a beer. His name is Guy (pronounced Ghee) and he is from Canada - actually just across the border due north of Spokane. When I shared that my daughter Kelcy went to Gonzaga University in Spokane, Guy said he visits Spokane frequently and often attends services at the church on the university campus. He was nice enough to offer me extensive advice on routes for my travel in Canada, even pulling out his own maps. I asked him how far south he's gone on his motorcycle, and he replied, "Cabo San Lucas". Turns out, he's taken some really major rides. We talked about all manner of things for over an hour. I'm afraid, I'm the one that eventually begged off, feeling the call to straighten up some of the remaining mess from my hurried packing job, and cook a piece of salmon in the convection oven now that I had shore power for the first time - the salmon turned out great.
That was the end of Day 5. The next day, the one I'm at the end of as I write this, was devoted to Crater Lake, and that easily deserves a post of its own.
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