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| Lake Manazanita looking up to Mount Lassen |
We have had
a wonderful diverse day, one of those days that you never know what is going to
happen!
Started off
with a good hour long walk around Lake
Manzanita, which
thankfully was all level. Have really noticed the height above sea level, it
does make you puff a little. Found four mule deer enjoying the track as well,
they were not to concerned about our presence and let us get to almost a metre
from them. There were lots of different birds around and even saw a small gecko
like creature tripping over the rocks.
Enjoyed the
museum at the park which explained all about the eruption of Mount Lassen
in 1914, and the regeneration of the area. There are similar small thermal
areas, reminds us of home! The drive up and over the pass at 8,500 feet ASL was
brilliant, great scenery and even a small amount of snow at the higher levels. Ruakiwi
handled it well, she never lets us down.!
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| Mule Deer |
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| Photos from the pass |
After a
late lunch stop at the southern edge of the park we continued on Route 89 to Lake Almanor.
Followed a road down to a boat ramp and got chatting to a couple launching
their boat, Inge and Jules, they were so friendly and said how much they had
enjoyed New Zealand back in the 70’s. Then they asked us if we would like to go
out on the lake with them, they had planned to spend time reading in a small
cove, but ended up taking us for a tour around a large part of the lake. You
can guess how much we enjoyed that. The lake is actually a reservoir which was
built in the early 1900’s and at 5000 feet above sea level is a great summer
place to get away from the heat. It has the largest population of Western
Grebe’s in North America, they look like a much
bigger version of our NZ Dabchicks and also carry their young on their backs. Thanks
so much Inge and Jules for a great afternoon.
While we
were on the lake they pointed out a camp run by the power company PG & E
which had campsites right on the lake, just the place for us to spend the
night. Sitting here writing my blog, overlooking the lake with a cold
beer….life couldn’t be better!
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| Western Grebe |
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| Cruising Almanor Lake |
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| Huge thanks to Inge and Jules |
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| A dog's life! |
Comments
Glad you are back in cool weather!