April Hiking in California and Oregon

I've been running around like a chicken with my head cut off, preparing to head off to boot camp May 23 (USN). As part of the preparation I went for a goodbye trip in April to visit close friends and engage in some awesome adventures. I would have posted about my adventures previously but time is just moving so fast and with so much to do I'm not able to grasp time and hit the pause button.

My trip (with my partner-in-crime, Stacie) consisted of visiting Porland, OR, Susanville, CA, and Reno, NV while camping at state parks between visits. These state parks turned out to be Tumalo State Park in Oregon, Burney Falls State Park in California, and Whiskeytown, CA (which wasn't a state park but was open for camping). Except for Whiskeytown (because we were rained out), Stacie and I hiked in Portland, Tumalo, Burney Falls, and at Lassen National Park (near Susanville). Each of the different locations was different in terrain, weather, and elevation. We hiked in the rain, we hiked in the snow, we hiked in awful heat, and we hiked on a cool, partly cloudy day. Pictures would probably illustrate the best where my feet took me during this trip.

Creek parallel to the Pittock Mansion hiking trail

Our first real hike was in Portland, OR. My friends Tim and Ayn are new Portland residents and took us on this fantastic trail, a 5 mile loop with Pittock Mansion halfway through at the top of a hill. As a native Californian (from Socal, especially, where sometimes I think we were named the Golden State after the color of our dead grass) the trees were refreshing and the creek running alongside most of the trail was gorgeous. I might have even climbed across a few fallen trees that fell perpendicular to the water!

A view of the Deschutes River from the trail before the river spread out and slowed down

Our second hike was near Tumalo State Park, on the Deschutes River Trail. This trail was AMAZING. Talking about different terrain. On one side of this trail were woods, wild animals (I saw either a large squirrel or a fox), and just a lot of green. This was the side our trail was on. On the other side of the Deschutes River was just black rock. A long time ago a volcano erupted, crafting the river and changing the land. On the opposite side of the river, huge black rocks went on as far as I could see. The trail itself is 11.1 miles (according to the website); however after 2.5 hours of hiking we turned back due to rain. I was also deathly afraid of bears attacking me (a reoccurring theme the entire trip I promise you) so I was also a little uncomfortable going so long without seeing people. Of course, on our way back we ran into plenty of people and I had nothing to fear.

Moi, with Burney Falls in the background

Our next stop was McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park (what a mouthful). This was the most beautiful place we camped at. We also had the most varied views at this location. There is a gorgeous waterfall and several hiking trails which take you along the creek, out to Lake Briton (created by the falls) and along the creek and over the falls themselves (a nice, 2 mile loop). We explored every bit of the state park that we could. We hiked all of the trails leading to and from the falls/park and spent 3 hours of our morning taking ridiculous pictures and checking out the view. Burney Falls is located in California, but to me it still looked like another place---it was so green!

Signpost for Pacific Crest Trail---only 1,380ish miles to home

Eager to stretch out our legs and bring on some soreness, Stacie and I also looked for additional hiking trails to spend the afternoon exploring. I kept seeing a trail on the corners of all our Burney Falls state park maps but there was no legend explaining what it was or where it went. Then, I oddly noticed the same trail on a California road map, which brought on a "WTH?" moment. Further investigation into this mystery yielded that this unnamed trail was actually the Pacific Crest Trail, which is a 2,600+ mile trail that spans Washington, Oregon, and California and ends at both international borders. WAY COOL. Not one to pass up an awesome adventure that spans three states we of course took out on this trail. We spent almost 3 hours on this trail. I wish I could have gone farther---maybe one day I will!

The view from the PCT of Lassen National Forest

After our stay at Burney Falls we made the trip to Susanville, CA, for the last leg of our trip. Susanville is located near Lassen National Forest, which is host to the famous Subway Cave AND, our new friend the Pacific Crest Trail. After taking a break from hiking and catching up on The Game of Thrones, myself, Stacie, and my friend Nick who was graciously hosting us all headed out to LNF for some hiking and exploring. The Subway Cave was cold, but very interesting. Just going by the seat of our pants we decided to check a map for nearby hiking trails and give them a go. It might have been fate (or just a very awesome coincidence) but we just HAPPENED to glance a sign indicating a path to the Pacific Crest Trail. Of course we took it. Unlike our last trek on this trail, it was almost unbearably hot, there was little tree coverage, and the path was mostly sand and dirt.

This trip was amazing ... and boy were my feet sore after 1.5 weeks of walking, running, hiking, exploring, and trekking. But it was totally worth it!

Some additional pictures

The view on the other side of the Deschutes River

 

There was still a lot of snow down in Tumalo State Park and in Lassen National Park (near Susanville, CA)

These silver metal diamonds are posted to trees along the Pacific Crest Trail as designators

The Subway Cave was pretty much just like a subway, but without the car and 30-something degrees too cold for me