![]() | itinerary < 10 September Ashland Chico Quiet Family > | Chico 11 September 2015 |
Grandchildren via LassenAfter breakfast at Morning Glory (Yum!) we rolled over Siskiyou Pass on I-5, a truly magnificent piece of highway engineering, and around the foot of Mount Shasta (who was shyly hiding her bareness in the clouds and smoke...so: no picture for Her!) We were stopped for awhile on Highway 89 for re-paving; at right, the view out the driver-side window, a beautiful transect of mature Ponderosa Forest. Looking closely, you see distress: climax trees in drought; Abundant litter on the forest floor to fuel a fire; stems too close together, encouraging over-tall trees; dead low branches to help a fire crown. An invitation to a conflagaration. A few miles farther, and we began seeing evidence of last year's massive (31,000 acre) Eiler fire of August, 2014. The forest here is tinder dry, and a lightning strike or careless match sends it up. Below, today just outside Hat Creek town, and the view from nearby Burnie (dangerous name!) in 2014. Modest little Hat Creek lost its only restaurant, the Fireside Cafe. Be careful how you name things! |
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![]() Hat Creek hillside today; the Eiler Fire above Burnie in 2014 |
![]() Lassen from Little Hot Creek; Sulfur Banks |
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A little more than an hour after leaving the National Park, we were rolling down the Deer Creek Highway into Chico, where Rochelle was joyously reunited with her granchirrun Zoe (left) and Mia. |
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