USA 2006: Las Vegas & California
(continued)
June 20th: the lone peak of Mount Shasta (14,162-feet) dominates our route from Tulelake southwards to Red Bluff (above left). Nearby
is the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden that includes the Hot LZ Wall (above right) and The Greatest Generation sculpture (below
left)
Twelve miles south of the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden we stop at the small town of Weed for coffee and to purchase gas. We spend
the night in an excellent-value suite at a Hampton Inn in Red Bluff, California
June 20th: The enormous Shasta Dam is 465-feet high and over half-a-mile-long. It has twice the mass of the Hoover Dam and is the
second largest (after the Grand Coulee Dam) in America. After stringent security checks, an interesting one-hour tour includes the
generating room, the penstocks, and a view of millions of gallons of water flowing down the face of the giant structure
June 21st: Lassen Volcanic National Park is about fifty miles east of Red Bluff - it's an area of 106,000-acres made up of pine forests,
crystal-green lakes, and a compact laboratory of volcanic phenomena and associated thermal features, except geyers
The road across the park (Highway-89) is closed at Bumpass Hell (left) due to to snow - the park can be fully open at any time between
mid-May and mid-July, depending on the level of snow in the previous winter.
Although much of the park is closed due to the snow, we are able to walk a trail in the Warner Valley to Boiling Spring Lake (below).
Steam vents located under the lake keep the water at a temperature of 125F. The shore of the lake has some mud pots.
Our accommodation
for the night is a comfortable self-catering apartment above a Realty Office in the town of Chester