WEDNESDAY, SEPT 2

WEDNESDAY, SEPT 2:

      After a last breakfast with Lynn, she left and we followed suit shortly thereafter. We both took Hwy 199 north, but when we arrived at Grants Pass Oregon, she went north on I-5 to Portland, while we turned south. It was deja vu for us up to that point, as 199 North was the route we took last year to get to Grants Pass and our white water rafting trip (and thence to Crater Lake and north into Oregon & Washington). We recollected how we came down the Oregon coast on Hwy 101 last year, but to get east of there at the southern end of Oregon's coast, you had to dip down into northern Calif – Crescent City – and take 199 north back into Oregon. We reminisced about how totally surprised and delighted we were to discover that we were in the Redwoods. We had a taste of them last year, and a “full course” of them this year. We feel really fortunate to have been able to spend as much time with them as we did. Stately, majestic, noble and heroic, yet unassuming, they evoke a myriad of feelings and responses when you're in a forest of them, or surrounded by them on a narrow roadway: awe, mystery, hushed silence, sometimes a feeling that you're transported back to a primeval epoch. It's a feeling that no other type of forest brings forth . . . at least that's how it was for us.

     No real trouble on the 280 miles to Lassen, even with the highest pass on I-5 (Siskiyou Summit). In the lower Cascades now. Had beautiful views of Mt. Shasta, still with visible snow on top this late in the year, and of Lake Shasta, sadly only half full.

     After we turned off the I-5 at Redding onto state Hwy 44, there were some dicey uphill grades there, which wasn't surprising, since Lassen National Park ranges in elevation from some 5,000 feet to its highest peak at over 10,000 ft. But, in spite of some engine protests, the truck made it fine.

Thanks for answered prayers.

     Another lovely, wooded campground. Widely, natural spaced sites. Very few people here, and so very quiet. But that will change with the Labor Day weekend coming up. As of now, we couldn't book a site for Sat & Sun nights. But there may be some cancellations, and we may luck out.