Welcome to the first episode of the Summer 2022 edition of our Adventures on the Road! This trip is the result of months of planning, preparation and prayer.
“A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord determines his steps.”
Proverbs 16:9 HCSB
The plans we put in place for the summer include three months of exploring the western states of the US with a jaunt across the border into the Canadian Rockies for a bucket list visit to the Banff and Lake Louise Canadian National Parks. We are holding these plans with an open hand, listening for the Lord’s direction, guidance and will for each day.
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will travel to such and such a city and spend a year there and do business and make a profit.” You don’t even know what tomorrow will bring — what your life will be! For you are like smoke that appears for a little while, then vanishes. Instead, you should say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.””
James 4:13-15 HCSB
And so we set off on the last day of May to begin our adventure with two travel days headed north on the I-5 freeway through central California, driving through rolling hills and farmland which stretches into the distance on either side of the road. At the end of our second day we were about 550 miles down the road. Then on the third day, just south of Redding we headed East on the 44, a beautiful route through small towns and family farms, climbing slowly into forested hills to Lassen Volcanic National Park where we settled in for 3 nights among the tall pine trees in Manzanita Campground.
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Driving the last stretch of the 44 to the park entrance we had glimpses of Lassen Peak, which dominates the Park at10457 ft. The adjacent volcanoes are in the 8000 ft range and hadn’t yet shed their coat of winter snow.
Due to the snow and winter conditions the roadway which travels through to the south eastern side of the park only opened our second day, finally plowed and cleared of snow. The hiking trails on the eastern side of Lassen were still closed and snow covered because they are at a very high elevation, so we enjoyed the views and vistas from the roadway. At the highest point of the road we reached an elevation of 8512ft.
The eastern side of the National Park has the area known as the devastated area, where the eastern side of the Lassen Peak was torn away by a devastating eruption on May 22, 1915, carving away rocks, snow, boulders and forest in the area below the mountain. We saw huge boulders that had been thrown or carried by the avalanche of mud and debris several miles down the slope and into the valley below.
All the rock in Lassen is volcanic rock of different types and ages, with various colors and textures. These are called Puzzle Rocks because in their cooling process they split into what look like pieces of a 3-D puzzle.
The devastation area is now less visible due to the regrowth of the forest, but historic pictures reveal the magnitude of the eruptions of Lassen, which culminated in the area being declared a National Park by Theodore Roosevelt in 1916.
Dixie Fire
The more recent destruction caused by the 2021 Dixie Fire was very evident as we drove to the east side of the park. In some stretches of the roadway all we could see we blackened and downed trees.
Last summer we had planned to visit Lassen, but the Dixie’s Fire caused the park to close, resulting in us rerouting to the Oregon Coast. As I mentioned earlier, we can have a plan but we know that at times the Lord redirects us! I am so glad we were not in a situation of being evacuated during a fire!
This park still holds unsolved mysteries like Chaos Jumbles where a mountainside poured down a rock slide that buried miles of trees! The second picture below show the new forest that has taken root above the deep rock debris. The landscape here is so varied, with high elevations still deep in snow even in June, mud pots and hot steam venting out of the sides of mountains, shield volcanoes, cinder cones, plug volcanoes, beautiful forests! There is so much to explore here.
One of the favorite things about traveling around is the opportunities to meet people who are traveling or working in the places we visit. We enjoyed visiting with Kevin and finding out where he has been and having a fabulous cup of coffee from his home roasted coffee beans, ground and brewed over his propane coffee pot. We were able to pray for his girlfriend's parents who were in the hospital, before wishing him safe travels!
Our adventures on the road are leading us into Oregon...see you there on our next blog!
No comments:
Post a Comment