Tired as I normally am during the weekends. It’s that extra hour of sleep that I allow myself that really fucks me up. Wake up and walk three miles with Pickles. That’s my new routine. To get more steps and more exercise in with Pickles. He seems to like it. He loves it. It’s good for him. I’m glad.

But I’m tired, trying to catch up with what I did over the long weekend, the 4th of July weekend. I went on a nature walkabout. It really does seem like I have at least one of those once a year. Last year was Utah and this year, I went about it alone. I did a Northern California, Southern Oregon trek this time.

The parks that I visited were Lassen Volcanic National Park, Crater Lake National Park, and Lava Beds National Monument.

Overall, it was a good solo trip, a much needed trip by myself, away from people, just recharging on hiking and nature. It was great.

It started with a very easy and uneventful drive up to Sacramento on Thursday. We got out early and I just wanted to cut my trip up in half. It just made things easier, plus it gave me time on Friday to visit Lassen, which was an addition to the trip. Originally I only planned to do Crater Lake the whole weekend, but since it was on the way up and I had always wanted to do it, why not.

The drive up to the Lassen was uneventful but beautiful and different at the same time. It was mostly because I never took the 99 that far north before. I would always take I5 and also, there were many different other state highways and byways I had to take to get there. It is always great to see a different part of California and a different part of the country that I haven’t seen before.

I rolled up to Lassen around 10-10:30. I got into the visitor center, looked around and then asked for good day hikes to do. I got a few recommendations and I went on my merry way. I was hoping to get out of Lassen close to 5, so I can make it to Klamath Falls at a decent hour.

The first hike I did was Bump Hell. It’s a pretty easy and scenic hike down to the sulphur pools. Along the way were many signs telling you to stay on the trails because there are spots where you could crack the crust and fall into lava and burn yourself. Yay! Danger. What I like. So of course, I stayed on course.

Elevated boardwalks hover just a few feet above the boiling hot pits. You walk around and enjoy the smell. Then, you hike all the way back to the parking lot and then I drove all the way back a few miles to my next destination, Ridge Lakes.

Fucking Ridge Lakes hike. I knew this was going to be a hard one, even the Ranger at the visitor center told me it was going to be a hard one. 1000ft up in a mile. This fucking hike was all up. I had no problems with the Bump Hell hike. That was easy. It got my heart rate going and I wasn’t tired after the hike. I was good. I thought this little one mile hike shouldn’t be a fucking problem. Man was I wrong. So wrong.

The first half mile wasn’t too bad, but it was still bad. My heart was pounding. I was running out of breath. I had to stop every twenty or thirty yards or so. It was rough. Then the last half mile hit. Fuck me. Just fuck me then. Every ten yards or so. Dying. That was probably the first hike ever where I was like, fuck, I need to turn back. How could I be so out of shape for this? What the fuck was wrong with me? I’m defeated by a short one mile hike? Are you fucking kidding me?

It was the elevation. I didn’t take that into account. It was high up. Over 8,000ft up. High. Very thin oxygen. Fucking tired. But I was a trooper. Slowly but surely, I made it up. Up and up with each painful step. Up and up.

I didn’t see that many hikers while going up on the hike. The ranger told me that too and now I understood why. It was rough. The one big group of four said they didn’t even make it up to the top, and I met them at the half-mile mark, but they could have been fucking with me. I thought about giving up, turning around and pretend that it didn’t’ happen. I thought back to the old couple that I met when I first started the hike. If they could do it, I definitely can. No time for quitting. No time.

The top. I made it. Pride, a little bruised, but I made it. My heart rate calmed the fuck down and it turned out okay. There was a smallish lake up at the top, about the same size as Lake Serene, but that was definitely a lot prettier. I was alone. I had the whole lake to myself. I sat there for lunch. Snacked up, regaining my energy and strength. I rested. My feet in the water. I rested. It was calm, tranquil, zen.

I just sat there and enjoyed the view, not thinking much about anything but just being there enjoying the moment and the looming thunder clouds that were slowly blowing in.

CraAaaAAcKKK! Flash! CraaAAAaack! Flash as lightning and thunder partied out in the distance. It was moving in. That 30% chance that the ranger quoted me is becoming 90%. I’ve been sitting there for about forty minutes or so, just chilling, but now it was time for me to pack up and go.

Let’s just say, downhill so much easier. So much easier.

By the time I made it back to my car, it was about one or one thirty. So, what’s next? I looked at the map and it doesn’t seem like there is much. The cone volcano that I wanted to go, I had to drive through the park and then all around to get to, so that might be out, so I opted to just head out of the park and see what came up and that’s what I did. Maybe next time I’ll head out and hike the cone volcano. It’s was an 8 mile hike, round trip. Next time.

In the end, I ended up at one of their big lakes at the end of the park. I scoped it out and that was it. I’m sure if I didn’t have a timeline or felt so rushed because I wanted to get to my hotel at a reasonable hour, I would have enjoyed Lassen more. I would probably have done more if I had more time. Next time.

As I got out of the park and made my way to Klamath Falls, I didn’t have much reception at all. So I navigated blind and followed directions from a gas station attendant. Then, the rain came as I went on my merry way. The sky — dark. Clouds looming low and menacing. I was kind of glad I was in my car and on my way to the hotel.

As I got further and further north, my reception on my phone came and went. I got a series of text which were voicemails from my Google Voice account. The hotel had an issue with my credit card and needed me to call them back to give them a new one.

Eventually, what happened was that Expedia had my old card number on file and not my new one. My fault and I had to eat an extra $70 for the hotel. Lesson learned, but I got my room at a higher price. Apparently, there were no rooms left in all of Klamath Falls.

It was hot and humid as one would expect from a Pacific Northwest summer. I checked in, took a shower and walked the little main street near my hotel to find a place to eat. Nothing that suited me. I then decided to just run a quick errand and maybe I’ll come across something. Nothing, so I decided to go to the brewery next door to the hotel. Had an all right dinner and then just called it a night. I think I was asleep by 10pm if not by 9:30.

Crater Lake.

It was the 4th of July.

For most trips like this, I usually have an idea or a plan of what I’m going to do. What hikes I want to do and what to see. But for some reason, I really didn’t have a plan. I have a vague idea, that was it.

I strolled into the park around 8:30 or so. Nothing was open at the Rim Village. I peed and looked at the map and just decided to do Garfield Peak. It seemed like an easy and reasonable hike. By 8:50 or so, I was on my way.

It was a much easier hike. 3.4 miles round trip. I wasn’t dying or gulping for air or anything like that. It felt like a normal easy hike to me. Easy peasy. It wasn’t too hot since it was so early in the morning, plus there were some cloud cover for most of the way. A little under an hour later, I made it up to the top and was privileged to see such a beautiful view of the lake.

I sat there taking in the majestic view, munching on some breakfast, granola bars and what not and just relaxed. It was beautiful. It was a study in blue. It was just beautiful and hypnotically watching the little tour boat glide through the lake.

Then, it was just time to go as the clouds burned off and the full strength of the sun came shining through. The hike back down was as easy and ever.

I reached the visitor center near the Lodge and worked my way in. It was around 10ish and it was packed already. I went down to the observation deck to buy me some time. As the day went on and with the different angles from the sun, the bluer the lake got.

I wouldn’t mind taking a boat tour but it was all sold out that day. There were about two or three spots left for the next day though, but I decided not to get it.

Not having a plan, I decided to just get in the car and drive the rim after I head to the main Visitor Center near the entrance. There, I asked a Ranger where would the best place be to shoot some stars that night and she said anywhere on the east or south east rim would be great because there would be less traffic there. Unfortunately, the Milky Way will be showing up on the South East of the lake.

Driving the rim, it was just crowded. So many people were there. Cars were everywhere. I pulled into whatever viewpoint that I can, that seemed empty. Walked up, snapped a few pictures, take in the view and went on my merry way.

As I looked at the map and drove around, it just hits me how small Crater Lake is in terms of what to do. There aren’t that many interesting hiking trails near the lake. The best one was Garfield Peak, which I did before and the next one is the Cleetwood Cove Trail, which hikes down to the lake and boat tours. That was on my list and that was where I was headed to. It was at the complete opposite side of the lake from where I started my day.

When I got to the trailhead parking lot, it was already packed. Cars were lined up on the Rim Road, plus it was approaching noon. I found a spot about a quarter of a mile down the road and got going.

Let’s just get this out of the way. Down is easy. Always been. Gravity helps. Not much stress, not much effort. Easiest down hike. Barely broke a sweat. Didn’t even need to rehydrate. Down. Easy.

Got to the lake and walked around the big rocks, trying to scope out a place for lunch. I found a place after some crawling and what not and just sat there, feet in the water, having my lunch snacks. It was cool, and relaxing.

Then a damn crawdad bit me or clamped me. Didn’t realize that there was life in the lake. I’m sure that eventually the rangers put it in there to build a sustainable ecosystem, which makes sense.

The water at that level wasn’t as blue as when you see up high. But it was clear.

I can’t state clearly or put into words the awesomeness the blue is. Different shades, depending on the time of day and where you are. Just beautiful. The lake somehow diffuses all the colors of visible light except for blue, so that’s why we only see the blue in the water. Earth is a wonder.

After getting splashed by a small incoming wake from the tour boat, it was time for me to go.

Going up. Holy shit, there is a stretch that I never noticed while going down that is just straight up. Just Up. UP. Fucking just fucking up. No switchbacks. Not shallow at all. Just up. Man, was it tough. I couldn’t decide which was tougher, that or Ridge Lake, but I think Ridge Lake edged it out as the toughest. But man, the high elevation and the heat didn’t help. But I managed to get up there.

I knew I wasn’t going to do much hiking after that, so I just took off my damn shoes when I got to the car. The rest of the trip was just finish the Rim Road and then head back to the hotel since I have decided to come back that night to shoot the stars. I think I left the park close to 4. It was a surprisingly short day at the park. It was just small, very small.

In a way, I guess I was a little disappointed that it didn’t wow me like it should. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the views, I loved the lake, but for some reason, I found a little lacking. Just a tad.

So, I went back to the hotel, took a shower and just chilled for a bit before I try to find me some food.

Now, Klamath Falls — it’s a very very small town. I would describe it as a town where people drive through and it caters to those people. It was quiet, dead, empty. Maybe it was because it was the 4th of July weekend, but I hardly seen anyone. I didn’t even see much tourists either. They were out finding the firework shows or still at the park doing interesting things.

I didn’t want to drive, so I walked down Main Street again. Not many options to begin with, but with everything closed for the 4th, the options were even more limited. Surprised to find the shi shi steak house open, so I went there instead.

Sunset was at 8:50 and it probably wouldn’t get dark until about 9:30, I decided to head back to the park around 7:30 or so. I got there just as the sun was setting. I found a place on the west side of the rim where I could get a good view of the Milky Way once it rises.

For a while after everyone left, I was alone and then there was some Indian (from India) who brought out a telescope and they were shining their flashlights everywhere. It got annoying. But, as it got darker, I got my pictures that I wanted. For the most part, the weather was cooperative even though there were some low clouds hovering around where the center of the Milky Way was. I still got its spiral and as it got later in the night, I left just before the moon rose and I was glad to get leave the Indians behind. They were definitely annoying.

For the most part, the pictures turned out all right.

And with that, I ended my time at Crater Lake and I had one full day left with no idea of what to do.

On Sunday, I had a rough tentative idea of what to do — Lava Beds National Monument for like half a day if it isn’t interesting and then maybe go out to Ashland and just scope out the town, maybe do some wine tasting if I was up for it and if it was convenient. No expectations of anything at all.

I took the drive to Lava Beds. It wasn’t that long of a drive to get there, but damn, was it a long ass drive in the park to get to the visitor center and pretty much to a lot of the sites. So, when I got there, I had to drive back out and get some gas.

But, damn, Lava Beds was fucking fun. I didn’t know what to expect, but that there were caves to go exploring. So, that’s what I did all day. I explored caves. I went as far as I can on most/all of them that were open and didn’t try to do anything extreme, i.e. squeezing through holes that I know I can’t damn well fit in, especially without any protective gear.

I only had my little tiny LED headlamp and that was pretty much. But damn, it was just great being in the cave, in the dark, mind playing tricks with you, and just exploring.

It was a great day. I was very surprised by it. Definitely one of the highlights of my trip.

I drove back to the hotel around 5ish that day and I don’t think I had much to eat all day. I was tired and I was hungry and I wanted to stay close to the hotel for dinner. Decided to just go to the Thai bistro that was down on Main St. Closed.

I didn’t want steak or any burgers or anything at all. Jonesing for some Asian food, so I Yelped and found a Chinese place.

Got there, saw a slew of Asians — Cantos — come out of the restaurant, can’t be that bad right. Man, I was wrong.

I looked at the menu and it was what I suspected, American Chinese.

When I say American Chinese, I meant like legit American Chinese. Not even like Chinatown Express or anything like that. Hardcore American Chinese.

Their chow mein was all sprouts with the crunchy bread like pretzel sticks. American.

But it was cheap and they had huge portions. I wasn’t expecting the portion size, but when the food got to me, I tossed all snobbery and judgement aside and dove right in.

It was the damn best fucking American Chinese I had in fucking years and I think it is just that I was fucking hungry and I was tired and I didn’t want to find another place and I already ordered so I might as well fucking enjoy it.

I went back to the hotel and just chilled.

I woke up at my normal time and just hit the road. Driving all the way back to LA.

The drive on the 97 from Klamath Falls to Weed to connect to I5 was a beautiful drive. It drives by Mount Shasta. Just a beautiful drive.

Very lovely. The drive home was very uneventful and pretty fast. Didn’t have too many blood boiling moments, until I reached Fresno where a guy was on the far left lane, going 60 whilst on his phone.

Fucker.

But, I managed to get home before 5ish, picked Pickles up and just chilled.

Overall, a great trip and a great weekend. I saw a lot more of California that I have never seen before and got to experience Crater Lake.

It was awesome-blossom.