We were up at 8, checked out at 9, and, with the top down and 60 degrees, we headed to Starbucks. Soon we headed for the Shasta Dam/Shasta Lake Scenic Byway. Shasta Dam is the second largest dam in mass in the U.S. A 9 1/2 mile long conveyer belt was used to transport the building materials to construct the dam. We crossed the dam on foot.....STEPS!! There we stood with the vista of Shasta Lake, Shasta Dam, snow covered Mt Shasta and the Sacramento River! Awesome! We left dam at 10:30 and came upon 2 deer crossing the road!!!
Then we proceeded to I 5 and 44 west to the Volcanic Legacy scenic Byway California. It was now 70 degrees. We drove through green, rolling, forested hills with snow covered mountains far in the distance ahead of us. On the road we passed homesteads, vineyards, and an unusual statue. Climbing to an elevation of 2600 feet (65 degrees) we went through Shingletown, population 1000. Driving through Shasta National Forest the speed limit was 65, 57 degrees and 3700 feet in elevation. This was very different road for us.....high, flat and very forested. We skirted Lassen Volcanic National Park where the road is closed until June. The next town was Viola, population 97. Soon it was jacket time, 51 degrees! We saw trees with power lines on them. At elevation 5000 feet, in the Lassen National Forest, there was a view of Lassen Peak, 10,478 feet high and the centerpiece of the park.
It was now 46 degrees with little patches of snow near the road. We were practically alone, yet on another great road! We did try a couple mile detour, a dirt road over babbling Hat Creek. Rt. 89 has plenty of solitude, beautiful trees and nothing much else! After the town of Old Station, we drove through a large area burned by forest fire.
At 1:15 we stopped at Burney Falls just off 89. AWESOME!!! Just inside the entrance to the state park, we took a short, steep hike to the base of the Falls and back. We had a quick picnic lunch there and we were back on 89 at 2:00, 65 degrees. We drove on through beautiful, forested, dotted roads to Oregon with snow covered Mt. Shasta in the distance. Suddenly there was a deer in the shadows in middle of road!! Quick brake!! We continued through Shasta Trinity National Forest where there were still very few vehicles and the Cascades ahead and to our left.
Back on I 5, we drove north for 8 miles to 97 north. Mt Shasta was now to our right! We were still on the Volcanic Legacy Scenic Byway through Weed where we passed Shastina Lake. "Little" Lake Shasta? Again we were on a different kind of road, open with strong cross winds. We passed Juniper Valley and entered Klamath National Forest at 3:15, 59 degrees. Butte Valley National Grasslands is just what you would picture! Unfortunately, then we passed hills ravaged by a forest fire on both sides of the road. We drove through Dorris, population 1000, at the Oregon border and entered Oregon at 4:00.
At Klamath Falls OR, at 4:30, we decided to go on to Crater Lake, Rt. 97 to Rt. 62, much of the road on the Upper Klamath Lake, the largest body of fresh water by surface in Oregon. There were bugs all over windshield again. Back in Oregon! We were all alone on the road in farm country with mountains in the distance and snow at the side of the road. It was 54 degrees when we entered Crater Lake National Park at the south entrance at 5:15. We followed a forested road and had to put the top up at 44 degrees at 5:25. A vista into a gorge was unbelievable! We soon arrived at the turn into the road to Crater Lake. Lots of snow!!! Everything was closed but the road! There was deep, deep snow on roadside up to the lake. At 7000 feet and 39 degrees we trudged through the snow to an incredible view at the rim of Crater Lake. Spectacular!!!! The annual average snowfall there is 43 feet! The lake gets all its water from the rain and snow; it's the cleanest, clearest, deepest lake in U.S.
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