Chet Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 A couple of weeks ago my wife and I took a trip to Northern California with my youngest daughter and her family. Our may objective was visit Mt Lassen National Park and a State Park called Burney Falls. We stayed in an AirBnB home in the town of Redding which was about an hour from each park. First time using a AirBnB home but after this experience I think any time we stay in one spot for any length of time we will do this again. It was less then have the price of a hotel per night and you have the place to yourself and a full kitchen if you want to save money eating out. Redding has a glass foot bridge that goes across the Sacramento River that is 710 feet long but the unique feature of the bridge is the tower that holds the suspension cables is a working sundial. This is the tower. Here you can see the white arc of hour markers. Close up of the Noon marker. Burney Falls is a small state park with camping and a lake but the main attraction is this water fall. The two large flows of water you see come from a river above but all of the water you see come out of the rock face is fed by hundreds of under ground springs and flows like this constantly year around. The big physical adventure of the trip was hiking to the summit of Mt. Lassen. It last erupted in 1915 and is still considered active. The trail head starts at 8500 feet in elevation and the summit is 10,476 and the trail is 2 1/2 miles to the summit, so you gain almost 2000 feet in 2 1/2 miles which is a pretty aggressive hike. In this picture you can see the summit on the right and the last set of switchbacks on the left. The switchbacks top out on the summit ridge and leave you with a little more than a quarter of a mile to the summit. This is about 200 yards from the summit. My wife and I having been to the summit about ten years ago and have the pictures to prove it, stopped here and the rest of the group went on to the summit. Were I am standing taking this picture is pretty much the rim of the volcano. Mt Lassen is what they call a plug volcano. In the foreground is the rim that I am standing on and on the other side of the snow is is the plug. After an eruption a plug of molten rock starts to push up and seal the crater. They say that this happens so slow that you could stand there and watch with out being harmed... I'm just going to take their word on it. We took our masks off for a group picture close to the summit. Actually we only wore them when passing folks on the trail. Thats me in the back with my head cut off then left to right my Grandson's girl friend, My youngest daughter, my grand daughter, my wife and my grandson. Missing from the picture is my son-in-law who tweaked his back moving an ice chest in the their Jeep the night before, so he stayed behind. I did learn one thing, I have been to a lot of summits but at 68 I think this sort of hard core hiking is behind me this one was a chore for the grand parents of the crowd but glad we did it with the youngsters. 6 Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kev Posted August 18, 2020 Share Posted August 18, 2020 Looks like a fun trip Chet! You'll have to come give Glacier a run! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Kiwi Bloke Posted August 20, 2020 Share Posted August 20, 2020 Yeah looks good. . . I'm assuming you did that mountain walk in a day? Speaking of volcanoes. . . we have a few down here. . .they can be visited and summit ed for day walks. A lot of them are still active and do a lot of smoking and occasionally pop their wads. I'm planning a trip down South In Feb next year, A buddy has some land that sits at the trail head of a pretty cool alpine loop that I want to go experience. I think its about a 5 day walk to get around. I'll take photos. No volcano's in the South Island only the North Island, since the North Island is a subduction zone. The South Island are two plates colliding hence the great ranges of mountains. And 68 is not too old to go walking mate. My dad is in his 80's and still gets out occasionally though he keeps saying he's over it. Keep up the good work. PS the water fall looks pretty cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chet Posted August 20, 2020 Author Share Posted August 20, 2020 10 hours ago, That Kiwi Bloke said: I'm assuming you did that mountain walk in a day? Yes, 6 hours to be exact. 5 miles round trip, 2.5 straight up and 2.5 straight down.? 10 hours ago, That Kiwi Bloke said: And 68 is not too old to go walking mate. I am not saying I am not going to get out there, just not going after the super strenuous stuff. Quote "Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for." - Epicurus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coop Posted August 22, 2020 Share Posted August 22, 2020 Great pics Chet. Looks like y’all had a heck of a time! @That Kiwi Bloke, looks like y’all’s would leak being upside down? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pkinneb Posted September 5, 2020 Share Posted September 5, 2020 Nice! Looks like fun was had by all. That;s pretty cool that you were able and willing to do that with the grand kids. I find that there is nothing quite like standing on the top of a mountain you have just climbed, it never gets old ...just harder ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That Kiwi Bloke Posted September 9, 2020 Share Posted September 9, 2020 Let me see if i can find some pictures of mountains I have stood on. . . . ? and have the evidence to prove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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