Our first of two days drive to the northern California Coast took us through the northern Sierra Nevada mountains into Volcano country. Here the Sierra Nevadas end and the Cascade range starts.
We passed several large lakes. Because of the heavy run off the water was any other color than blue! The last half of the drive was mostly in thick forests. Many areas had been ravaged by fire.
Later in the day, we entered the area around Lassen National Park. Some of the landscape was littered with ejecta from ancient eruptions. It is the southernmost Volcano in the Cascade Range which goes north into Oregon (Crater Lake, Mount Hood) and Washington (Mount St Helens, Rainier, and Baker).
Mount Shasta
Mount Shasta is a potentially active volcano that lies north of Lassen along I-5 and was our stop for the evening. It is the second-highest peak in California at just over 14 thousand feet. The weather was cloudy and threatening thunderstorms. A highlight in the area is the town of Weed. Full of t-Shirt shops supporting all manner of Marijuana-themed merch! The whole area, like Yosemite, is a destination for people enjoying the outdoors.
We stayed at a KOA that was to the east of Mount Shasta near I-5. Tomorrow will be a shorter drive up through California into Oregon and then drop back down into California along the northern coast.
Our second day began with a photo op of the mountain before disappearing into the clouds. From there it was a spectacular drive north into southern Oregon.
Once at Grant’s Pass, we tacked left onto the famous Redwood Highway US 199. This drive started a long wind down to the coast. The last part was through Rewoods National / State Park.
It was stunning and whetted my appetite to visit some of the famous groves of these majestic beauties!
The campgrounds are very nice and feature a petting zoo – of sorts! Well, they have goats and chickens anyway!
We look forward to exploring the area for the next couple of days.
