An Excellent Autumn Adventure

Instead of allowing the end of summer to get us down, we decided to take a road trip, and extend our outside activities by heading south. 

Took a lot of beach walks in Washington, and then in Oregon.  This is Port Orford, Oregon

Harris Beach, Oregon, where we camped for the night

Nearby South Beach....

And Rocky Beach

Then a stop in Humboldt Redwoods State Park

Camping by the Redwoods

It is so good for the soul to be dwarfed by the trees.

The start of a long drive down Highway 1

Sometimes the fog rolled in.

Sometimes the fog rolled out.

This shot of Greenwood Beach shows beautiful fall color as well as the invasive pampas grass that seemed to be everywhere once we started looking for it. 

 

 

 

This natural sandy beach is not the ocean, but the shoreline of South Lake Tahoe.

Starting our hike in the high country of the Desolation Wilderness

Climbing above Lake Tahoe

Emerald Bay, Lake Tahoe

Granite Lake, about 7000 feet elevation

Looking across the lake to Nevada

Looking down on Granite Lake and Emerald Bay

Higher into the high country

One of many alpine lakes at or above 8000 feet elevation

Now for the next challenge, Lassen Peak

The trailhead parking lot

Some warnings from the National Park Service

Starting to gain some altitude

Looking up

And up

Lake Helen comes into view

Getting higher

Lake Helen again, from higher up.

Higher

Higher

Higher

Finally, the top, 10, 457 feet!

A view of Mt. Shasta, from the top of Lassen Peak

Then on to Crater lake

We decided to climb to the Watchman Lookout for better views

A geology class having a field trip

Wizard Island

Looking back on the Watchman Tower as we drive away through the Pumice Desert

Last stop, Newberry National Volcanic Monument

Lake Paulina

The famous obsidian flow

After this, we headed home, ending a great road trip down the Pacific Coast, and back up the middle of California and Oregon.