Our last stop In Oregon was in the southwest corner, near
the California border, in Cave Junction.
We stayed at a gem of a campground, Mountain Man RV Park, but the town
itself was a different story. The town
was full of younger people who looked like they were homeless or were
throwbacks to a lot of the hippies of the 60’s. We learned that they are “pruners” for the
marijuana growers in the area… interesting!
Lyle, the park owner was a lot of fun.
He is the storyteller for the Mountain Men group and boy could he “spin
a yarn.” We were glad that we took the
time to get to talk to him… and Jean enjoyed watching his constant “partner”
when he rounded in the park, his young yellow lab, Jed. We stayed there so that we could see the
Oregon Caves National Monument. We took
the hour and a half tour and thoroughly enjoyed it. It’s a marble cave and was quite different
from the other caves we have been to.
For a portion of the tour, the guide passed out flashlights for us to
use and they were our only source of light.
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| friendly deer on our hike at Oregon Caves National Monument |
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| rest stop at the top of our hike at Oregon Caves National Monument |
On our way to Lassen Volcanic National Park, in California,
we decided to stop for a few days in Fowlers Campground in the Shasta – Trinity
National Forest, near Mt. Shasta and the town of McCloud. It’s a
small, beautiful campground with trails to three waterfalls from our campsite
and a lot of deer with their tiny, spotted fawns. We just loved it there and Jean thought we
had won a “nature lottery.” That thought
only lasted until we got to Lassen National Park where she promptly said “this
place is even more beautiful and special.”
We stayed in the Manzanita Campground in Lassen for 5 nights, over the
Labor Day weekend, and loved every minute of it, except for the freezing cold
nights! It was only in the 60’s to 70’s
during the day and into the 30’s at night.
In fact, it was only 32 degrees the morning that we left. We were amazed that the campground stayed
full and probably 90% of the campers were in tents! We hiked Bumpass Hell and
Paradise Meadow trails (each one a 3 hour hike), and kayaked on the Manzanita
Lake. There was no electricity and no
cell service except at one pull-off a mile from our campground. We made sure that we got to that pull-off to
check for messages daily. It was
amazing how fast that 5 days flew by!
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| Mt. Shasta, California |
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| Middle Falls at Fowlers Campground National Forest, near McCloud, California |
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| kayaking on Manzanita Lake, Mt. Lassen in the background, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California |
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| Chaos Crags & Chaos Jumbles |
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| Bumpass Hell - mud pots and hot springs |
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| boardwalk through Bumpass Hell |
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| hiking on the Bumpass Hell trail |
While passing through Fernley, Nevada (just east of Reno) we stopped
at the Black Bear Diner, which must be a popular place for “burners” to stop for
lunch on their way home from Burning Man in the Black Rock Desert. We had a lot of fun seeing them, in all
their array of clothing and outfits, and the dusty vehicles they were arriving
in. We thought that was the highlight of
the day, but then we watched a fella at the campground we stopped at get his
truck and travel trailer buried in the sand as he was trying to leave. The Lohantan State Park near Silver Springs,
Nevada, was quite different than any other campground we have been to. The campsites are not really well
defined. There are packed-sand roads
through dune-like hills and some big cottonwood trees along the beachline. If campers don’t stay next to the more
well-packed sand near the trees, they risk getting their vehicle/RV stuck in
the loose sand and have to be pulled out.
Jerome had a brainstorm and decided to wet down the softer-sand parts of
the exit road the night before we left and thank heavens he did because we JUST
made it out!
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| our campsite at Lohantan State Park near Fernley, Nevada |
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| Jean painting |
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| Jerome setting up his motorized camera rail for night-time timelapse photography |
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| this is the motorized camera rail that Jerome and our son Joe designed and built |
In 1986 Life Magazine named Hwy 50, across the middle of
Nevada, as the “Loneliest Road in America” and AAA warned motorists “not to
drive there.” Today Hwy 50 is considered
a scenic road and travelers are encouraged to pick up a Hwy 50 survival guide
“passport.” By stopping at 5 designated
destinations along the way and getting an “official stamp” validation, you can
get a souvenir and a certificate to commemorate the journey. We didn’t take the time to get our passport
stamped, but the great memory of traveling this unique road will stay with us
for a long time to come. We completed
our Hwy 50 jaunt by treating ourselves to a campsite with full hook-ups at the
Prospector Hotel and Gambling Hall RV Park in Ely and having a fabulous lobster
salad dinner at the nearby All Aboard Café & Inn.
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| view from our windshield, driving across Hwy 50 |
Jean thought you might get a kick out of seeing Jerome in
his “driving gear.” We just HAD to
figure out something that would help ease his back pain when he sits too
long. We came up with the idea of
modifying a life vest so that it hangs from the back of the truck seat and keeps
him suspended in the air enough to keep his spine stretched and his tailbone
off the truck seat. Whahoo…. It’s
working!!!
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| Jerome strapped into his spinal traction apparatus |
Speaking of sitting too long… we left Hwy 50 and took Hwy 93
south from Major’s Place to Panaca.
This
highway stretched through vast, expansive valleys and mountain ranges that
looked speckled, as if they were draped in khaki-colored chenille bedspreads
with dark, forest-green flocking.
The
sky was a hazy grey-blue with tiny, sparsely scattered clouds low on the
horizon.
The palette of colors of
varying greens, browns, and golds of the landscape with only rare instances of
singular cattle ranches made this 80+ mile of traveling mesmerizing and it
actually was more scenic and “lonely” than Hwy 50. By sheer luck we stopped at Cathedral Gorge State Park near
Panaca.
We found out while camping
there that it is considered the “favorite” of all the state parks in Nevada,
and we can definitely understand why now.
We hiked each day of our three days here and reveled in the beauty of
the clay formations and the crevices that formed the surrounding slot
canyons.
We also met some wonderful
people here – if you’re reading this, thanks Carl and Susan for teaching us
about the hot springs and Lazerwoman for showing us your incredibly divine RV!
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| our campsite at Cathedral Gorge State Park near Panaca, Nevada |
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| our camping buddy |
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| the campground is in the cluster of trees in the distance, in the left of the photo |
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| looking from Eagle View trail |
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| Jerome on Miller Point trail |
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| both of us on Miller Point trail |
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| hiking in the Cathedral caves area |
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| Jean inside one of the slot caves |
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| Jerome at the beginning of one of the slot caves |
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| landscape along the Eagle View trail |
We’re headed for Arizona next.
Until the next blog,
we wish you all some special time to slow
down and enjoy this beautiful earth that we have been blessed with.
Jerome & Jean
P.S. you can click on the pictures to make them bigger if you desire to do so
