Gone West 12

The Lava Tubes, Squaw Valley and Lake Tahoe.

We travelled back along Route 97, back along the Klamath Lake, through the town of Klamath Falls onto Route 39 and across the state line.

hrough Tulelake and onto the road that took us to the Lava Beds National Monument. We stopped off at a Tourist Information Center, this was situated next to a local History Museum, this had been converted from its original purpose, a Prisoner of War Camp, first for Japanese that lived in the USA but thought to be a security risk and later for German POWs.

We travelled through the Lava Fields thrown up about 7000 years ago.

We arrived at the North Entrance and were given a talk about not disturbing the endangered bat species, they are being put under threat by WNS (white nose syndrome), this is a fungus that attaches itself to the bats ears, wings and what gives it name nose.

Our pass suitably stamped that we or any of our clothing, boots etc had not been in contact with any place that could harbour WNS.

We travelled through  miles of Lava Scree stretching as far as the eye could see, in places like what I imagine the surface of the moon would look like. We arrived at the Visitors Center, we went inside and got some idea of what we could visit, we started off by visiting a well-lit cave cave called Mushpot, which was graded easy and is suitable for families with small children, this meant that  Linda could go down. It was not a long passage and was a dead end so when you reached the end you about turned and returned to the entrance, it was all on  one level and with only a few exceptions could be walked upright (the sections that were lower you soon found up about).

We next drove around the loop stopping at various other caves, some shut off to protect the bats during the breeding season (they have young at this time of the year). We next stopped at the Upper Sentinel but I decided that as there seemed to be a crowed going down, so we parked the top of the path that led down to the Lower Sentinel (the Sentinel has two entrances), I went ahead and as this one was unlit and you needed head lights or torches, Linda decided it wasn’t for her. I went down alone, it wasn’t difficult but was tight in places and on various levels and had broken and uneven. The lava tubes had very fascinating structures and were well worth the visit (I had done some caving in my youth and in comparison, these were a piece of cake, with the exception of Labyrinth and a couple of others none are really difficult).

We came out of the area that had the Lava Tubes in and headed off into the National Park towards the exit, just before a turnoff to the HW 139 Linda was sure that we were going in the wrong direction, so once and only once did I take notice of Linda not the other female in the auto! Boy did I make a mistake, I have a very good sense of direction and so as we travelled deeper and deeper into the forest I knew that we were heading roughly in the direction of South, but it was along logging roads and it took us along, how shall I out it? Some very interesting roads. Unfortunately the road was designated FS 97, the road we were looking for was HW 97 a simple but costly (in time) mistake. The road took us over high passes and winding serpentine's, through forests and into the snowline (the roads are closed to general traffic in winter as they are impassable). I found the route was wonderful, but I don’t think Linda shared my enthusiasm.

We at last came out onto HW 89 at a point called Dead Horse Summit(in a place we had not aimed to visit, but that’s what adventure is all about) and turned in the direction of Susanville, though we knew we would not reach there that evening, so we started looking for a campsite for the night, funnily enough we had never had any problem getting a campsite until now, but as it got on towards 18:00 we decoded the first one would be ours. The first one was at a crossroads near to a small town called Burney and it was at a Casino. The Casinos are often run by Indian Tribes, this being one of the ways that they can get some money back from the palefaces that had robbed them of their lands.

This was another interesting experience and I suppose it filled the need for a place to hook up. We registered in the Casino and found a free pitch (not hard as there were only a couple taken with American trailers and RVs), we had also been informed that the site had no toilets or ablutions, that would mean we had to use the Casino toilets and these closed at 24:00 and didn’t open again until 09:00 the next morning, it was going to be a long night.

After registering we decided to head into town and have a look around, though there were a few small restaurants we looked at their menu’s but in the main they either did not appeal to us or had shut up for the night. We then decided we would dine in style that evening and would dine in the Casino’s restaurant. We returned to the site got hooked up (the none too technical term for connecting to the electric supply).

We got ourselves ready and moseyed into the Pit River Casino. These Casinos’s have nothing in common with a Casino as seen in films, they are in the main just one armed bandit halls, with loads of TV screens showing American Sports (Baseball, American football and Basketball).

We got a seat in the small but very busy restaurant, ordered our meals, I had a steak, always a good bet in the States, I believe that Linda had a salad of some description. Here is a thing that I have noticed all over the USA, they are frightened to serve a good rare steak, they all come medium rare, I think they are frightened because of H&S to serve any food that has not been cooked right through. But though the steak had been mistreated (in my opinion) it was very tasty. Linda had said she fancied a go at the slots (one-armed-bandits), we had a walk around and but when she saw the speed that the machines took your money decided against it. We went to the toilets (not out of necessity, but in view of the long night ahead a wise move) and then went out to settle down for the night.

We woke at our normal time and decided to get our things packed up and the rig ready for the road. We wouldn’t wait until 09:00 but head into town to a small diner that we had seen the evening before, it had been closed, but we had seen that it opened at 07:00 daily. So we headed into town and Anna’s Country Kitchen and breakfast. When we arrived quite a few places were already occupied so we took a table at the window (I much prefer to sit at the bar and watch the coming’s and going’s) we ordered our breakfasts, Linda 2 eggs easy over, bacon and fried potatoes country style, and I eggs sunny side up, sausages and hash browns, this all came with sourbread toast and of course as much coffee as you can drink. We exchanged some sausage for bacon and visa verse and had a perfect breakfast.

We came out and decide we would get a few miles under our belts and head for Susanville, a stop for Lunch and a shop at Safeway’s for something for dinner that evening. It was then onto Reno and Lake Tahoe for the night. So it was onto HW’s 89, 44 before hitting the Interstate State Highway 395 that would take us in and out of Nevada and through Reno. It was an interesting drive as the forested mountains turned into bare rocky outcrops and sandy scrub-land. We passed the dried up lake beds of Honey Lake and in the distance dust devils danced across the desert in and around the massive US Army supply depot of Herlong. We crossed the State line near Hallelujah into Nevada and onto a 6 lane highway that took us through Reno, passing the inspection stations that all state lines have. (they also have compulsory weigh stations, but we saw very, very few that were actually open). In Reno we hit the main East-West Highway 80, here the traffic fairly scooted along as it headed into the direction of California and Sacramento. We crossed the State line at Verdi (such a musical name for such an unmusical place) and turned off and onto the 89 that would take us to our destination for the night Lake Tahoe.

But first we took a small detour to the Scene of one of the first sporting events that I can remember the 1960 Winter Olympic Games at Squaw Valley, it is still a wonderful setting and still very much a winter sporting venue.

We then returned to the main highway into Tahoe City, we followed the shore road of Lake Tahoe looking for a campsite, we saw none until we reached Meeks Bay, this was right on the lakeside, had wonderful pitches, but alas it was full, we were informed to try the State site a short way back from whence we had come, as there was also others looking we hightailed it in the direction of Sugar Pines State Park.

Before entering this park and campsite you are first asked if you knew the rules and regulations about bears, here Linda went white and eyes bulged! Bears no I know nothing about bears are there any here, when the answer came in the affirmative, what colour was left in her face drained away!

But we found our pitch and got Jucy set up, it was within easy walking distance of the toilets though the showers were a bit of a walk away in fact we drove the next morning.

We had bought steak for dinner, so I went to a neighbouring unoccupied pitch and set about lighting the BBQ, I BBQ’d the steak, this is something I prefer to do myself as then I get it done how I like it,       “ knock its horns off and wipe its arse”, rare, very rare. Linda likes her steak a bit more well done but still just the other side of medium. While I was doing the steaks, Linda got the new potatoes and carrots onto boil and a salad with a very nice dressing that we had discovered. For desert we had bought a mixed fruit salad and a vanilla Yoghurt. It’s a hard life on the road.

Linda washed everything twice just to make sure there was not a trace of food left that would (she was sure they were coming to get her in the night) the bears. We got everything including our washing gear stowed away in the bear proof lockers that are at every pitch and as dusk was falling (when asked when the bears came, the ranger had informed her round about dusk) she locked us down for the night. This was an operation that I came to hate as I have to get up at least once in the night and finding the bloody door central locking switch became more than a chore.

I had to get up in the night, Linda was awake (I don’t think she had been asleep), I needed to pay the bushes a visit, Linda was petrified, she insisted that I took her headlamp, I did say I had been peeing for 68 years and didn’t need a light to find it! But she insisted and then immediately locked herself into the van again. I was alone in the pitch black with only the twinkling stars for company, but at least I was able to relieve myself. I had informed Linda that there was a family with small children who were in tents not 20 yards away, this did nothing to allay her fears, I am sure she thought after the bears had dealt with them they would come and have us for desert.

I returned and immediately fell asleep, Linda said that she was sure she heard sounds of wild animals outside during the night, but I am sure it was her imagination.

Next morning we made our coffee, packed our stuff back into Lucy and drove around to the showers before heading off to drive around the rest of the west side of the lake, stopping at various vantage points to take photos and enjoy the wonderful sights of the lake and waterfalls.

We turned off the main highway that led to Sacramento as we were not all that interested in visiting larger cities, we just liked travelling on the smaller roads and passing through the wonderful land shaft with the small towns, villages and homesteads of the Sierra Nevada.

We were heading for a campsite that Linda had found in a place called Oakhurst, this was just South of our next port o’ call Yosemite (pronounced Yo-sem-ity) National Park.  See you ALL there