USA – Page 5 – Road and Ocean

Into Oregon

June 16, 2014 Chris Tanner1 Comment

We’re sitting in the van, in the rain, near what I think is Hills Creek Lake, just south of Oakridge. I’m not 100% sure though. We’ve come over the top of the mountains from the south on an unpaved road, with only a national road atlas to go by. We’re definitely in Oregon, anyway. I thought that this atlas would only show the major roads (Oregon is about 12 inches top to bottom on the paper), but when it comes down to it on the ground, there really are no other roads here. It’s pretty wild. The atlas shows when roads are paved or not, and there’s not a lot of options between gravel and the interstate freeway.

So anyway, we had our second night in Lassen and then headed back into the park on Sunday to have a look at Bumpass’s Hell hot springs area. Now that’s more like it; lots of big, bubbling pools, steam and hot ground. Definitely tops my list of geothermal sites. No molten lava though. I might end up having to go to Hawaii for that.

We had an early start, and were out of the park by mid-morning. As we dropped back down into the valley towards the I5 (Interstate #5) the temperature soared. Hot, sticky vinyl seats, sunburnt driving arm, windows open for breeze, dehydrating more and more every minute… We stopped off to buy provisions and a few things on the “left it at home” list- stuff like a chopping board, cutlery, washing up bowl.

Onward. Northbound we rounded Mount Shasta, leaving it to starboard in a rush of gasoline fumes and noise. It was one of the places I’d wanted to spend some time around, but with our tighter schedule due to van repairs, we had to move on.

Lava Beds National Monument seemed like a good place to stop for the night, so we headed off the highway and soon found ourselves buzzing along a gravel track, kicking up a right dust storm behind us. The road went on. And on. And on. Hmmn. Our fuel gauge was hitting the red and we were still deep in wilderness. Not ideal. At a cross roads just 4 miles away from the Lava Beds area we found a “road closed” sign which meant that we had to take a longer way round, and meant we’d miss the stuff we’d come for, including lava tubes that you can explore in. And it meant that we were touch-and-go with fuel. We emptied the 2-gallon spare into the tank and crossed our fingers. Eventually we crept into the small town of Tulelake, where the local store was still open and also had some gas. Result!

We trucked on, over the Oregon border, up past Klamath lake and found a nice quiet spot just off the road on a “winter recreation area”. I couldn’t quite figure out what this was; a large expanse of concrete with a winter shelter at one end. I think it’s where people park in winter before heading into the back country on show shoes, skis or snow mobiles. No snow around there now.

Wow, so that was all just yesterday.

This morning we continued north to Crater Lake National Park – Oregon’s only National Park. The ring round around the lake was shut; so we had to continue on the main road which did run along the western rim for a bit so we did get to see the awesome views. The deepest lake in the USA at over 500m, and also the clearest water; they say algae grows over 400 feet down! It was cold up there though; still snow drifts metres deep, and frost on the windward side of the trees.

We only stopped for a few photos, then headed on to Toketee falls. Toketee means “pretty” in Chinook; they certainly were. The walkway stopped high above the plunge pool, I hopped over the barrier and scrambled down to the water for a very quick, very fresh swim. Such a beautiful spot; shame it wasn’t warmer.

Next was a spot supposedly just 4 miles up the road; Umpqua hot springs. After at least half an hour and many miles into the mountains later, we still hadn’t found it. On the way back down we spotted a sign in marker pen pointing up a road we’d not yet tried. Someone trying to keep the hot springs secret!

Not far down the bumpy gravel road a chap was sitting at the side of the road with a broken motorbike. His chain had come off and a load of links were bent. I stopped, we had a wrestle with some tools to the point where it looked like he could at least limp back to the main road. We left his bike by the side of the track, he hopped in the van and we headed up to the springs together. A bunch of folk were living there full time, in tents by the river. The springs themselves were 4 or 5 separate pools perched on the edge of a cliff, the hot water feeding the top pool. Each pool further down was a little cooler than the one above it. Nice to have a soak for a bit.

Jim (with the motorbike) decided that he could probably make it back to Eugene to get a new chain on his own, so we left him to it. He ended up leaving his towel in the van; luckily he’s from Vancouver so we’ll drop it off in a few days’ time.

Just half an hour later we were on gravel tracks again, heading north, aiming for Oakridge. This time we made it all the way over the mountains without any closed roads or fuel scares, and here we are by the side of Hills Creek Lake, bellies full of steak sandwich. I’m pretty sure it’s Hills Creek Lake. We’ll find out tomorrow!

Lassen Volcanic Park

June 14, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Finally, after 4 days waiting for the van to come out of the garage, I got the call from Joe to say it was all done. I picked it up, paid the bill, we packed up and got on our way in the late afternoon. It was nice having a few days going slow in the marina, but both our minds were ready to start travelling; and we want to spend some time around the Vancouver area before catching up with family in the Rockies at the start of July, so we don’t have all the time in the world.

After 6 hours of hot driving up through the vast agricultural central valet of California we pulled into a campsite just inside the north western entrance of Lassen Volcanic National Park, in the dark. I like arriving at new places in the dark, as long as we have somewhere safe to park, because the next morning is much more of a surprise. The campsite was fairly full, but still space left for us.

This morning we spent a few hours sorting out the van, preparing it for living in. Tins in one box, quick-access food in another, fixed a new magazine rack to the wall, shuffled stuff around. It feels like we’ve got a lot of stuff, but nothing I can think of that’s not going to be needed. Two bikes plus biking kit, two kayaks with paddles and buoyancy vests, a bag of climbing kit, my kitesurfing bag tucked away under the bed, a tent and backpacking kit, cooking gear, a stack load of books and a bag of clothes each. As everything finds a home it will probably feel more organized. We’re using the gas tank from the boat as I hate the thought of having to throw away loads of the disposable propane tanks that they seem to use for everything here. Hopefully we’ll be able to find places to fill it up.

We hiked up Lassen peak today; the highest point in the park at 10,000-odd feet. Starting at around 8,000 meant that it only took just over an hour and a half to get to the summit, where it was a lot colder than the car park. Still a fair bit of snow around. It’s funny seeing other walkers stepping oh-so-cautiously along easy snow sections, sometimes sliding down on their bums or crawling on all fours. Reminds me of one of my first trips to Scotland with Ian and a couple of other buddies from Sheffield. We went to Glencoe, aiming to climb Stob Corrie Nan Lochan, but it was far too warm and wet for any mixed rock and ice routes, so we just hiked up a snowy couloir in the rain. Ian taught me that walking in soft snow is all about confidence, you need to commit to each step and understand how the snow moves under your feet; you’ll never slide far, especially if you’ve got a walking pole or ice axe for balance.

The road through the park is closed in winter and is used as a cross country skiing loop. That’s got to be dramatic. Lassen volcano last blew its top in 1915. The summit was strewn with new rock, less than 100 years old, and the crater looks pretty gnarly now with lots of freshly (in geologic terms) hardened lava.

Whenever I’m wandering around on the slopes of a dormant volcano, I wonder how much warning you get before an eruption. These days there are so many tourists around, if it blew up now we’d all be in a lot of trouble. I’ve not seen any signs about eruption warnings. Back in the bay area there are loads of signs “You are entering a Tsunami hazard zone” when you go anywhere near sea level.

In the distance is Mount Shasta; another volcanic cone rising from the flat plains. It looks a fair bit bigger than Lassen, and probably has deep snow on its upper slopes. Not one to tackle this trip though.

Tonight we’re parked just inside the southern entrance to the park. There’s a small “walk-in” campsite by the parking lot and a bunch of RVs dotted around. Seems you don’t have to pay if you’re not using the campsites; but we still get the convenience of water and toilet block. Just up the road is a hot, bubbling mud pit and sulphurous steam vents.

Funny to think we were seeing the same steaming ground and smelling the same eggy hydrogen sulphide just last week in Iceland.

So far the “volcanic” aspect of Lassen hasn’t really been impressing me; we’ve seen a few dormant, non-smoking volcanoes and a few steam vents. Perhaps it’s because we’ve just been in Iceland. Tomorrow we’re going to take a look at Bumpass Hell which is the largest geothermal centre in the park – which does look quite impressive from the photos I’ve seen.

The park has a relaxed feel, it’s not busy; in fact two of the camp grounds in the centre of the park are shut (Silver Lake north and south). It’s half way through June so I’m quite surprised. There’s no snow on the ground at those sites. Shame, as they looked nice.

Waiting for the van

June 10, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

I dropped the van off at the garage first thing Monday (yesterday) morning to get them to do a check-over before we head off on our 6,000+ mile loop of Canada and the US, hoping that it was going to just be one or two new bushings and an oil change. Got a call from the guy in the ‘shop with the news that we need a whole bunch of new front suspension parts since it’s so worn out. New tie rods, lower control arms and bushings, if I remember correctly … and two new tyres. Plus the rear brakes are almost out. We’re going to be doing a load of mountain miles where I definitely don’t want sketchy brakes, so we’re going to get new drums and liners. It’s all going to add up to nearly the cost of the van (ouch!) – but we did get a good deal on the van to start with, and hopefully should be able to recoup this cost when we sell it.

It’s also delaying our departure date; we were planning to head off today but it’s now looking like the van will be done late tomorrow, and as we want a full day of driving to get quite a long way north before our first stop, we’ll probably set off on Thursday morning. No big deal though, we’re catching up with a few things, I’m enjoying reading and not really doing much else at all. Starting to settle nicely into a very relaxed way of being.

I’d get cracking with a load of boat jobs to save us some time in September, but I left my toolbox in the van. Ah well. We had a pedal around Alameda island today; across to the West coast to see the beach. Looks like a great kite surfing spot. Of course my kites are also in the van…

Catching up with buddies

June 8, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

We parked the van by the side of the road in Tennessee valley last night, after dinner at Salman and Betul’s. Our first full night in it! Very comfy. I fixed my bike wheels (finally) – tightened up the hubs. Mikey and Ross would be proud of me. I used all the right tools, too – no bodge job this time. We met Maude at Bayside café for a solid American breakfast, where we also bumped into Joe. Met Amanda and her buddy David for lunch, and headed up to the hills behind Sausalito to check out the view.

Then on the way back to Alameda we stopped in to see Ali, Kate and their kids.

Good times seeing some of our US friends. It feels a little strange, moving on from San Francisco after just 6 months. We’ve just started to settle. But that’s why we’re moving on. Another month here and we might not get out!

Mainsail in for repair

June 6, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Dropped off the main sail at a local sail loft today. I’ve been toying with the idea of a new main; the one we have is sooo baggy and is getting a little tired. I also want something with a third reef for when it gets really windy. But I thought I’d also see what a sailmaker had to say about it, in case it was worth repairing. They gave it a good looking over on the loft floor and we decided that it was worth putting some money into this sail rather than buying a new one. It’s not a top end sail, but it’s got plenty of life left in it.

It’s still going to be baggy – that’s due to the lower quality fabric rather than stretched seams, so it can’t be fixed without major surgery. This just means that we won’t be able to sail as close to the wind as we could with a new, tight sail, which in turn means that it’ll take longer to get to places to windward. But we’re not planning to sail much to windward, and we did actually manage fine coming back from Santa Cruz, so that’s fine. The repairs work out about a quarter of the price of a new sail too – bonus.

He’s going to;

Add a third reef
Stitch a new leach line in to replace frayed canvas
Stretch the luff rope that’s shrunk
Add anti-chafe patches where the sail touches the spreaders on a run

Looking forward to picking it up in September!

Yosemite and Kings Canyon

May 5, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

After a day or two of chilling out in San Francisco, the four of us headed off in the van to see some hills. First stop, Yosemite. I’d booked a camp site right up in the valley, next to the Merced river. We’d been looking forward to getting some swimming in, but it was freeezing cold so that didn’t happen.

Ant and I wanted to get some exercise and decided that Half Dome was a good target. We’d thought about getting passes to climb the cables right up to the summit, which involves an online lottery to restrict the number of visitors each day. We’d checked out the website but the entries had closed for the day. We decided that it would still be worth hiking up there anyway. Leaving late in the morning meant we had to put the pedal down, and were pretty much at a jogging pace. Three and a half hours in we’d reached the base of the granite dome, poking its head out above the tree line. This was also the half way point – we had another 3 1/2 hours to get back to meet the girls in the car park. After tucking a pot of macaroni salad away, we half-walked, half-ran the 7-odd miles back to the valley floor.

The girls picked us up in the van and we headed out of Yosemite as the sun was sinking below the valley horizon. Which is way, way higher than the real horizon, which mean that we still had loads of daylight. The plan was to head down to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Park and see some big trees.

We ended up spending the night in a motel in Fresno, and then putting away a big breakfast at Blossom Trail Café just outside town. Every time we sit down for an American breakfast we see “biscuits and gravy” on the menu – which to our British ears sounds less than appetizing. We persuaded Ant to give it a go. What turned up appeared to be something like scones in a hollandaise / vanilla / custardy sauce. Hmmn.

As we headed into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada again, we passed a field full of shining cars and bikes. I spun the van round (that sounds easy, but with its crap turning circle it means a twenty-point turn in the road, which was fortunately deserted) and we spent an hour or so checking out muscle cars, trucks, bikes and lots of hairy christian Americans.

Driving higher into the mountains, we kept passing the usual altitude markers that seem to be so popular round here. I’d read that Americans are into their sports trivia and statistics – I wonder if altitude clocking is along the same lines? Not that it’s much of an achievement; you just drive up the road and you get higher. Not like the old days when these mountains were first being explored – that must have been epic.

We got into the park and turned left for Kings Canyon. Supposedly the second deepest canyon in the lower 48 states, after the Grand Canyon. Yep, some pretty impressive views.

Though I’d booked a campground further south, we figured that it wasn’t worth the time driving all the way down there, so we found a nice place near the King river near the road head. The road winds its way up the valley but doesn’t go anywhere, which made me wonder why it’s here. It’s not like it’s an old trade route. The effort that’s gone into building the road is amazing – can it be just for tourism? There were a load of cars parked up at the head of the trail, and a few hikers packing their kit for a weekend in the wilderness. That’s the way to explore this park – on foot. I don’t think we’ll be coming this way again though.

The drive back to San Francisco was fairly straightforward … a long way though in the heat, and the van is noisy. We had a great time with buddies; camping, mountains, sun…

Moving home

May 1, 2014July 22, 2018 Chris TannerLeave a comment

As we’re going to be away from the boat for most of the next 4 months we figured it didn’t make much sense to keep her in Sausalito – the slip is expensive and we don’t need liveaboard status. I thought it would be cool to be near the city, so checked out one of the marinas right next to the baseball stadium, but that also worked out pretty pricey. I found a place at Fortman marina in Alameda at less than half what we were paying in Sausalito. Rose and Anna brought the van around while Ant and I took Rafiki.

Not enough wind to sail, so we motored all the way. I still haven’t had a chance to use the new spinnaker so I was hoping we’d get the opportunity to use that while Ant was around, but no joy. We’ll run it through its paces when we’re back in September to make sure everything checks out OK before we head south (with a following wind) to Mexico.

Fortman’s is just next to Grand Marina which is where Rafiki was based when we surveyed and bought her almost exactly a year ago. It’s quite a way from the bay – perhaps a 30 to 45 minute motor before you can get any decent sailing in – but it’s a good place to leave her while we’re travelling, and a place to leave the van while we’re in the UK.

The approach is really industrial. They say that the cranes were the inspiration for the AT-AT walkers in Star Wars, but I’m not so sure. They look like creatures, anyway.

The girls got to the marina just before us, and were met by a friendly chap from Alameda Yacht club which is based just next door. Seems like a nice casual place where everyone says hi. Quite a few liveaboards too. Pretty basic compared to Clipper, where we were before – regular key entry rather than electronic fobs, but that’s fine with us.

Santa Cruz to SF

April 28, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

With the ladies safely left at the bus stop in Santa Cruz, Ant and I headed back to the boat. We weighed anchor (with the new windlass which hauled in all 30 metres of heavy chain with no stress at all), and headed out to sea!

The skies were clear the whole trip, and of course we had to take a load of sunset photos.

Safe beers — Don’t panic, I found a safe place for the beers

Back at the dock in Sausalito, it was hot hot hot and still as a mill pond. Time for grilled trout on the BBQ!

SF to Santa Cruz

April 25, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

Leaving San Francisco the weather was cloudy, overcast and grey, with not a lot of wind. We’d left Sausalito a little too late, which meant we were fighting the incoming tide as we headed out under the Golden Gate bridge. No big deal though, we have plenty of time. Just outside the bridge we saw our first WHALE! The grey whales are migrating back north again. We’d failed to see any on their journey south during our trips out of the bay last autumn, so it was pretty cool to see one so soon.

As we headed down the coast, the weather didn’t really improve. The wind was from the south, which is not supposed to happen! It never really picked up much, so we ended up doing quite a lot of the trip under power.

Rose at the helm — Rose snug in her new jacket

Comfy sea berth — Anna tucked up in the sea berth under a duvet

We arrived at Santa Cruz around 11 in the morning, about 19 hours from SF. We tied up to the fuel dock in the harbour, where we were going to be staying overnight too. After a shower and freshen-up, it was time to explore. Dodging rain clouds, we found ourselves in the Santa Cruz museum of Natural History, trapped by a particularly vicious downpour. Hey Santa Cruz, you’re supposed to be all sunny and hot and Californian!

Santa Cruz harbour — At the dock in Santa Cruz harbor

The night on the dock was pretty noisy and bumpy- the swell wrapping around the breakwater washing up the harbour channel making the boat jump around on its lines like a beast trying to get loose. We decided to head around into the bay and spend the next night at anchor.

The sun came out, we had a relaxed, warm lunch in the cockpit and then decided to pump up the dinghy and head ashore. The wind had picked up loads, which meant that it was going to be almost impossible to row the few hundred yards to the wharf. Hmmn.

A guy on a motorboat had been motoring around throwing his anchor off the front of his boat periodically, waiting a while, then hauling it up and trying again somewhere else for about half an hour. We weren’t sure if he was practicing or just not getting it quite right. At one point he dropped it just upwind of us and was drifting directly down towards us before (fortunately) deciding he’d not got it quite right and moved on again. He swung past us, Ant and I rowing furiously into the wind, and asked if we wanted a tow to the wharf. Yes please!

We arrived at the landing dock and had to shoo off a load of very vocal sea lions. They are pretty intimidating up close, but with a good shout and lunge they are easy enough to move on. Once we’d broken through the lines of sea lions, we had to break through the lines of tourists… Leaving the dinghy locked up under the watchful eyes of these curious beasts, we headed into town for the night – we’d spotted a live gig that sounded worth a visit, and were keen to see what Santa Cruz nightlife was all about.

A solid meal, a few hours of rock music, some night skate boarding and a short row downwind brought us back to Rafiki to tuck into bed. The wind had dropped, but the Pacific swell was still casually rolling into the bay which meant that the boat was rocking a fair bit. Not as bad as being at the dock, though.

On Monday we rowed the girls to shore so that they could catch a bus back to SF. The weather looked good for the trip back, but we’d decided that it would be better all round for the boys to take the upwind leg while the ladies explored the city and spent a calm, comfortable night in a hostel.

Thanks Ted

April 20, 2014 Chris TannerLeave a comment

I sat on the bus on the way home from my last day at work, looking out at more windsurfers and kite surfers than I’d ever seen on the bay. It was really cranking. It was sunny. I had my kite gear ready to go in the van. I had to go out. So I rushed to the marina from the bus stop, jumped in the van and hit the highway back to the city, buzzing with anticipation.

Ugh, traffic. Loads and loads of traffic. Going IN to the city at the end of the day. What was going on?! Eventually arrived at Crissy fields launch site and started to pump up my 13m on the beach. It was really too windy for this kite, but I’ve held it down in some pretty gnarly winds before and I figured I could always just turn round and come back to the beach. A guy rocks up and quizzes me about my experience and whether I’d kited there before; giving me some good words of caution against going out for the first time in a “double diamond” kite spot with a kite that’s too large … I’m so fired up, wetsuit on and ready to go, I test it out anyway and discover that my lines are the wrong length and it’s not gonna happen. The kite won’t go up and I’m not going to be able to control it. Bummer. I was so looking forward to a session.

A guy comes in toward the beach with his kite down low ready for someone to catch, so I run over and grab it for him. He comes over to take his kite and we have the usual chit-chat;

“How was it?”

“Bit gusty. You going out?”

“Nah, my 9 has a puncture and my 13 is too big”

He pauses for a second.

“Hey, borrow mine for a bit.”

Hell yes I will! I hooked up, jumped on my board and had a short but awesome session while he took his dog for a walk. I couldn’t believe this generosity. After, we got chatting, and I offered to take Ted and his lady out for a sail. They came along Sunday afternoon for a couple of hours and we had a good time getting to know each other.

I was both disappointed at myself for not having been out kiting once since we moved here, and also inspired by a complete stranger lending me expensive, dangerous kit. It feels strange, finishing full time work and moving on from San Francisco at the same time. This place is a tech hub, sure, but I’m just not inspired to get into the startup and tech scene. I suspect for me the bay area provides more in the way of biking, kiting and adventuring – that I haven’t quite managed to tap into as much as I should have done.

Maybe sometime in the future. But, for now, onward travel beckons. When I’m back, I’ll definitely be giving Ted a shout.