Day 2, 3 and 4. Up through NoCal, and crossing into Oregon on my journey north.
The Adventure Is…
…just beginning to take shape.
Day 2:
The day of my second morning began with some tailgate bacon and eggs and a stiff cup of coffee, then back on the road. My goal for today was to make some miles and pass San Fransisco on my way north. My destination was a horse ranch in Napa Valley where I had some family to see on my way. The late summer heat was baking the earth, as I sat in all-too-familiar traffic as I skirted past San Fran. This time of year, the fires were raging in Northern California, and thick black smoke laid low across the I-5 as I pushed farther north. This turned out to be one of the few times I didn’t camp, since I had a lovely little cabin with my name on it. 3 weeks in, a bed would have been heaven. But only my second night, it wasn’t to far off from normal. The next morning I took a walk around the compound before hopping back in the truck and continuing north.
Day 3:
After breakfast I spent some time consulting my maps, calculating both distance, routes, fuel supplies, meal breaks and, finally, where I would find myself around dusk. Planning my resting place ahead of time became very important as time when by. In the beginning of the journey, there were several nights where I hadn’t planned correctly and had to pull off the road in the dark on some unknown dirt trail and head into the mountains. Setting a tent up in the dark is never any fun, even with external lighting. I needed to cover 500 miles today to make it to Crater Lake. The I-5 was closed at Redding, due to the fires that had hopped the highway. So I had to take a detour route up the 139, through the Modoc National Forest and the across the Oregon border at Klamath Falls. I drove through lots of countryside, all brown with summer’s end. Horses, cows, and old dilapidated barns
Here I passed onto Highway 39, and continued north to my daily goal of Crater Lake National Park. Ihad always wanted to see this amazing natural formation, and today would be my time. I made it up the slope of the crater just before dusk (didn’t budget my time too well today) and was able to take in some awesome views of the crater. It’s shear size and depth boggled my mind as I stared across the massive opening. Fun Fact, there is no inlet or outlet for water. The crater maintains it’s high water levels from only rain water and snow melt!
After a short while it began to get dark, and I needed to head down and find a suitable and safe place to set up camp. So I went down the mountain and past another lake called Diamond Lake, all the while getting darker and darker outside. I finally found an old logging road that split off east into the forests. Here I set up camp, and though it was colder than I had yet experienced, the stars were brighter and clearer than ever before. In the morning I realized that I had camped at 5000’ elevation.
Day 4:
I awoke to a slightly damp morning, which was the first of many. VERY many. After a quick look at my surroundings, I began to head deeper into the Umpqua National Forest via route 138 on my way down the mountain. Such a beautiful forest it was, and I found myself pulling off the road to check something out or take pictures so often that I began to be worried that I wouldn’t make any distance today. The word Umpqua means “thundering waters”, and it is not only the name of the forest that surrounds Crater Lake, but its also the name of the wide river that the highway I was currently traveling on follows as it climbs down from the higher elevations and back towards the I-5. My goal for the day was to end in Portland, where I had shipped a Garmin GPS/Satillite communicator to a friend’s home. The highway led me past incredible rock monuments and structures in the distance, along with a couple of amazing bridges and some of the most beautiful turqoius water I have ever seen.
One of the times I had pulled over to photograph something, I found a whole massive bramble of blackberry bushes off the side of the road, and down a steep slope. I love gathering wild food when I can find it, and wild berries are my absolute favorite. So of course, I carefully made my way down the steep embankment and into this think tangle of thorny blackberry bushes. Sure enough, the rotten log I was precariously balanced on broke in two, and I fell directly into the sharp bushes. But I managed to escape with only a couple bleeding punctures, and with a whole handful of plump, ripe, juicy and sweet blackberries. WIN!
The road eventually brought me back to the I-5, where I gassed up began heading north. However, shortly before hitting the highway, my truck began running strangely. More precisely, it began dying when i let on the clutch while braking/stopping. The tachometer needle wouldn’t hit idle, rather it would fall all the way down to zero and die every time I had to stop for a stoplight or sign. Very frustrating, but also unnerving. I decidecd that I’d have this checked out while in Portland, as I couldn’t continue my trip with this problem.
