The Mighty Dodge was our steed, and since the weather was good, we drove all the way past the park and climbed up the ridge on Highway 44 toward Susanville.
On top, there was a panoramic view of Hat Creek Valley and a very distant Mt. Shasta.
Far closer and more ominous was the east side of Lassen, which right now is buried in snow.
Driving on surprisingly good forest service roads, we were able to wander through the trees and the lava flows with ease. Never got even close to needing 4WD, and the snow on this sunny side was all melted off.
The roads were all red lava rock.
A good view of the country with Mt. Lassen prominent on the skyline
Back in Redding by 2. Next weekend there's supposed to be a blast of cold air and snow for sure in this higher country, but possibly even in Redding. This might have been the right window to do this drive. There are plenty of good dirt roads too, so there's a lot of exploring to do this summer. Now it's on my list, and for sure I'll want a whole long late spring, or summer day to do it.
Nice, looks like you didn't even get the truck dirty
ReplyDeleteSo much beautiful areas in California. I grew up there in the 60s and 70s. If you could cut off the bay area and LA it would be a great place again.
ReplyDeleteThere are eleven state senators representing the Los Angeles area, most of them hispanic, all of them Democrats. There is one state senator representing NorCal from Sacramento north. He's a white Republican.
DeleteIf there was ever an explanation as to why California is being run into the ground, that's it.
Thanks for the road trip, CW.
It amazes me the different types of unpaed roads. In MS we had that crappy loess (bentonite-like); it's so bad hwy projects were delayed Nov-Mar each year w/ no penalty. Lived in the NC Mtns. 31 years, got tired of snow & mud seasions. So, now on an SC Lowcountry Marsh. Sand roads everywhere, a blessing.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful country.
ReplyDeleteMy old stamping grounds...
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Country! I like that your not being followed by hundreds of vehicles and able to just enjoy it! I love my Ram truck, but like all vehicles with computer crap
ReplyDeletein them.......the idiot light for ABS comes on! Im headed to the Black Hills this summer! Lots of open country up that away!
Once I got off pavement we saw no one at all. There were only one set of tracks on the road that suggested someone else had been along that way over the past few days. I'm sure we were the only ones out there that day, in spite of it being the weekend.
DeleteThanks for the beautiful road trip pics, CW. Nice truck.
ReplyDeleteStop off at Subway Cave?...Showed my little sister what total darkness is like.
ReplyDeleteUpriver.
The best road trip: BMW R60/6 from LA to Lassen in August, 1978. A Lassen summit hike was awesome. Had an F16 orbit us below our eye level. The view down the maw of the crater is formidable, and the last eruption was in 1908, looking like it was last year.
ReplyDelete