Day 29 - over Mt. Lassen summit to Guernsey campground, on our way to Lake Almanor

It was cold last night - the campground is at 6000 feet, it was a clear night, and the trees shaded our tent... We wore just about everything we had.

We're usually up about 6:30 and on the road by about 8:30. I told Trudy we should stay in bed until we saw the sun shining, so we did. It was still cold! 

We took our breakfast over to a sunny spot to eat and a young woman came over to apologize for any noise they made when they came in late... It didn't bother us - we slept through their arrival. But, it turned out she was interested  in bike touring, so we went over to the market for coffee / tea and had a nice visit while we waited for the day to get warm enough to ride over the summit. 

We didn't get on the road until almost 11.

Rose, the bear, enjoyed seeing the summit of Mt. Lassen while Charley, the bear, took care of some business in the woods.

Here's our destination... Way off on the right side of the lake is where we hoped to go...

Here's the hill...

Here's Trudy enjoying the hill...

Here's Charley and Rose celebrating reaching the top of the hill...

Here's Trudy and Frank celebrating reaching the top of the hill...

Here's a mud pot.

Here's my bike seat...

I know, they don't have much to do with anything, but I'd rather be on my bike seat than in a mud pot. So there you go.

We shortened today's ride by about 25 miles because we didn't have enough daylight...

Day 28 - Burney Falls State Park to Lassen National Park

44 miles, 3405 up

Here's our beautiful home in the woods...

Here's the rest of the story...

Our dining room, kitchen, laundry, garage and my bride having her morning tea!

It wasn't a very eventful day, riding Hwy 89...

Until some dweeb hauling a big trailer passed us with about 2' clearance - then,    I spent the rest of the climb to the Lassen entrance thinking about all the possibilities for communicating my displeasure if I caught up to him somehow. 

The entrance guard waved us through... My $10 senior pass saved us another  $20!

We found a camping spot in Lassen, which was a relief, because we'd forgotten about Labor Day weekend. 

As we pulled in, some women from a spot nearby came over, very interested in bike touring. When we came back from our showers, they invited us over for dinner. We had a great time talking and getting to know each other, with lots of common interests.

We've found throughout our trip so far that we continually meet the most generous, interesting people who seem to adopt us...

Day 27 - Mt. Shasta to Burney Falls State Park

60 miles, 3357 up

Today is the day we started riding Hwy 89, which we will be riding until at least the south end of Lake Tahoe.

While we were in Mt. Shasta, we had at least six people tell us to be careful on this road...

Often, the white line on the edge of the road is the shoulder, about 6 inches wide!

Other times, there is plenty of room. We had about a twenty mile section that had loose gravel to the right of the white line and abraded road surface on the left, so the only safe, smooth place to ride was on the line... It was fun in an odd way. Vehicles have given us plenty of room when they were able to. 

We stopped in McCloud for treats and to check out the town. We visited with a couple of locals while we had coffee / tea and thought it was a really nice town.

We took a side route along the McCloud River that took us away from the highway.

Remember the bears we rescued in Washington? Charley and Rose were really excited to visit Burney Falls!

Day 26 - Layover day in Mt. Shasta!

We had a wonderful, relaxing day in Mt. Shasta. Jason is a railroad engineer and was on call, but didn't get called. Niki is a nurse and was working, so we didn't get to spend as much time with her as we would have liked... We hung out and talked for a while, then did some errands. 

We were able to make dinner for them and another Patroller that Trudy wanted to meet and talk with about NSP women's programs.

It was nice to cook in a kitchen because we usually are making one pot meals with boiled water. 

Really nice to hang out with everyone and their dogs, an English Bull dog - what a character! And, a bear like, mellow long haired German Shepard.

They all made us feel very much at home, so I hope we can return the hospitality one day!

Day 25 Yreka to Mt. Shasta

48 miles, 2500 up

We found the bears, Charley and Rose, discussing their return to the "Golden Bear" state.

It's a beautiful area!

We made it to Mt. Shasta about 1 p.m., so we had lunch in the town plaza then tracked down a local bike shop with the help of our friend Jason. He's a member of National Ski Patrol and he and his wife Niki had invited us to stay with them when we reached Mt. Shasta.

My rear derallieur had been skipping a little, so I wanted to get it tuned a litte. The shop took care of it for me, and we headed over to Jason and Nikis for a hot shower, laundry, dinner, conversation and a soft bed.

Jason told me about the graffiti under a railroad tunnel that we had passed on the way to their house... It's not graffiti at all, but a place for remembrance and respect - a local place to honor others, in life and death.

Day 24 - back to California! Ashland, OR to Yreka, Ca

53 miles, 3861 up

Yreka is 6 miles off course, but was the closest place to go for camping - in an RV park.

This fawn was in front yard when we left in the morning.

Leaving Ashland, we rode about 20 miles up old Hwy 99 headed for Siskiyou summit.

So, this was a welcome sign...

We reached California!

Trudy does a California girl happy dance...

I just sorta stand there...

We were on an overpass and a couple truck drivers gave us a friendly toot!

We had to ride the shoulder of Interstate 5 for about 6 miles - the Ag inspectors applauded and waved us through.

Here's our idyllic lunch stop...

Where we ate the fruit we smuggled over the border for lunch.

Not as quiet as it looks - there was a railroad tie replacement project on the other side of the river.

Our first glimpse of our next destination, Mt. Shasta!

We rolled into Montegue, CA in mid afternoon  and stopped in at the Post Office to find out if there were any campgrounds around - they sent us to City Hall, which was closed, so we went the library, where the librarian and a patron were very helpful, helping us figure out where to stay. Yreka was 6 miles away and had an RV Park, so off we went!

We celebrated our return to CA that night!

Day 23 - North Fork campground (Fish Lake) to Ashland, Oregon

35 miles - 1921 up

We just never know what the day will bring! 

It takes us about 1 1/2 hours to have breakfast, pack up and get on the road, so we're usually rolling along by 8-8:30. It's been a little cooler in the mornings, so we put on a few layers to start the day.

We started the day riding through the forests, then through some beautiful valleys as we got close to Howard Prairie Resevoir.

Then, we started the decent into Ashland on Dead Indian Memorial highway! Here's the beginning...

There's no way to show how downhill this downhill is! I don't take photos on the  downhills because going 25-35 mph on a   70 pound bike is "interesting enough" on it's own! The road was a twisty, quick downhill run that took us to within a few miles of Ashland. 

We were in town early, so we had time stop in at a brew pub, the Standing Stone Brewing Company, for lunch then wander around for a while.

As we were parking our bikes, we met the chef, who is also an avid cyclist. He learned to cook by traveling and learning about local foods and dishes where he was. He reads cook books for fun...

He stopped by our table as to tell us about a few things on the menu. We both had a great lunch and ate way too much!

We had planned to stay at an RV / campground outside town, but decided to try "Warmshowers" again because our first time was so great. We contacted a local host, who replied that we were welcome to stay with her and her family.

We had several hours available to explore Ashland.

Trudy's rear dérailleur hadn't been working quite right, so we headed over to a local bike shop to have it checked. I asked to use a floor pump to pump our tires up while they worked on her bike, and found my rear tire had a slow leak. I replaced the tube and we headed off when her bike was finished.

Lithia Park is beautiful and the deer are very comfortable with people.

We were walking our bikes through the park when...

Psssst... My tire went flat! The valve was defective - back to the bike shop for a replacement tube! Good luck - we were only a few blocks away, not 50 miles.

Our "Warmshowers" hosts, Margaret and Mark, their four children, dog, two cats and several chickens made us feel very much at home and they gave us access to everything we could need: showers, laundry, a real bed... And, great conversations about travel and adventures.

They plan to take a year off and travel around the world with the whole family! I hope we'll hear from them.