We turned off 395 to Eagle Lake and were disappointed. It's high on a volcanic plateau and isn't surrounded by trees. The water was low and quite a bit of muddy looking shoreline didn't tempt us to try and dip our toes in the lake. We pressed on to Lake Almanor.
We reached Lake Almanor quickly with plenty of time to check out the various campgrounds. After looking at a private campground in Chester and the PG&E Last Chance campground Donna chose the Best Western's last dog friendly room. Donna showered. I took Commando for a short hike along the North Fork of the Feather River along the Chester Warner Valley road. This turned out to be very relaxing. We viewed a pretty campsite, walked along a stream, and played stick.
I also stopped back at the Lassen National Forest ranger station and bought some maps. They had closed but forgotten to lock the door. The woman was startled when I came in, but was very friendly, chatty, and helpful. I told her about the dead coyotes I'd seen along a fence. She laughed when I wondered if the coyote shooter noticed that the coyotes didn't seen deterred. She said her husband was from a settler family and that he had shot coyotes from an airplane when he was young. We agreed that coyotes certainly eat a few cattle but might also keep the rodents who dig holes in the pastures down too! There were a lot of taxidermied animals and birds. I thought the mink might be the animal we'd seen at Blue Lake...it was the right size. She said all of the animals were road kill, except the mountain lion. She had been shot by a rancher. Of course I'm an animal fan, but I see mountain lions as a lot more dangerous to cattle than coyotes so I have some sympathy for the farmers too. At least he'd had the sense to make some use of the cat instead of hanging it from a fence.
She said her husband had been out deer hunting and seen a mountain lion family and hadn't shot any of them. He had been on a rocky outcropping and seen the cats below. He froze, than realized that he couldn't see one of the cats. He peered over the rock and saw the daddy lion peering up at him. He stood up and waved his arms and yelled and the cats tripped over themselves to run away as fast as they could. His pals thought that was nuts and said they'd have bought him a six pack if he'd shot the lions.
We woke up early the next morning and took our time getting ready. I bought coffee and one of the best cinnamon rolls ever and took Commando along the Feather river again for him to stroll around and me to drink the coffee and eat the cinnamon roll. Donna napped and had the continental breakfast.
We headed back along 36 to Westwood and turned north on County Road 21. We turned left onto Silver Lake road and up to Silver Lake. This borders on the Caribou Wilderness. Silver Lake is exceptionally beautiful and has summer cabins. One end of the lake has a volcanic cliff which was covered in snow. We hiked along the lake to where the snow started to make hiking difficult. I continued up to the cabin road to try to get to the top of the volcanic cliff. I stopped at a seasonal creek with a pretty little waterfall. We hiked back along the road.
Donna had gone back and then hiked the opposite way along the shore. I saw her walking along and we got in the car and met her. We had snacks at some picnic tables and I soaked my feet in the lake. The water was so cold I really couldn't leave my feet in for more than a minute. Commando ate his breakfast.
He gives this lake 4 paws up!
We drove along to nearby Caribou lake. There was snow over most of the terrain so we stayed near the parking area. Commando played a bit with a lively gray terrier. He also swam out for a stick that I threw and then had some difficulty getting back through the floating logs. He thinks floating logs and bark are land and then is confused when he has to keep swimming. I was almost thinking I'd need to wade in and get him when he made it safely to shore. I didn't throw any more sticks for him!
We headed out then and back to 36 for home. After checking the map highway 32 looked interesting so we took that to Chico. It's surprisingly not very scenic although we did stop at the Lower Deer Creek Falls. Some federal rangers were having a nice lunch here and Commando took quite a liking to the guy. Donna almost lost her camera by dropping it down the trail. We also hiked a short distance up the creek to a natural spring that falls into the creek.
Commando gives this 3 paws up! It's short, but he likes the water and he liked the guy.
That was about it for our vacation. We continued to Chico and then took 99 south for home. I wish we'd had longer to stay and more internet access along the way.
Highlights of the trip: the beaches, the redwoods, the Garberville pancakes, Juanita Lake, Frank and Luke, Mill Creek Falls, the northern volcanic plateau scenery, the coyote carcasses, a large group of pronghorn in a lush hayfield eating the hay the thoughtful humans had planted, the 5 or 6 deer on their way to the lush hayfield that disappeared before Donna could take a picture, the Leffert trail adventure, the woman at the Lake Almanor ranger station, and laughing and traveling with Donna for 6 days.
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