On to California

The last night in Oregon involved every campground being full and a frustrated late-night decision to camp in a free parking lot rather than a KOA parking lot campground, so on to California!

Burney Falls

After a stop at the nicest rest area in America (Randall Collier, I don’t know who you are, but thank you), we set course for Lassen National Park. Along the way we passed a sign for Burney Falls, which was advertised as “not the biggest falls in California, but possibly the prettiest.” How could we pass up that bit of advertising? As it turned out, a lot of people felt the same way, but we managed to find a parking spot (the joys and challenges of driving even a small RV!), and took ourselves on the 1.2 mile loop hike. After discovering that the park designers really had picked the best spot for the falls overlook, right next to the parking lot, we had lunch and got back on the road to Lassen.

This time of year the park is still snowed in and the through-road is closed, but you can get into the first parking area and hike around Manzanita Lake. The lady at the entrance booth told us we’d have the park all to ourselves, which sounded exciting, but turned out to be a bit of an exaggeration. Still, there was plenty of room to spread out and enjoy the view.

On the way out, we stopped to take in the view of Mt. Lassen across the lake, and were asked for a corkscrew by a couple who had remembered the wine, but forgot to bring anything to open it with. Our first request for aid from a fellow traveler! Also, screw tops are your friend!

Because most campgrounds are still closed for the year, we decided to try “dispursed” camping in the forest that night, which involved a nail-biting trip up a narrow, windy Forest Service road, and a lot of prayers that the area wasn’t currently being logged. We ended up high in the clouds above Lake Almanor, and decidedly alone. After a dinner of BBQ’d hamburgers that we hoped wouldn’t attract every bear and mountain lion in the area, we breathed a sigh of relief that we’d found a level camping spot without calling AAA to be pulled from a mountainside, and turned in.

The next day involved a long day of driving, and closer proximity to Fresno than I would ever wish for, but we arrived at Yosemite in time to be greeted by the setting sun lighting up Bridalveil Fall and the Merced River, far below us in the valley.

Yosemite deserves its own post, so join us next time for that! To see more pictures, and stay current with where we are, check us out on Instagram.