Park Unit 67: Cesar E. Chavez National Monument

7/30/15. This was the last day of our Northern California Road Trip and we stopped at the Cesar Chavez National Monument on our way home to Burbank. This is a new park that was established by President Obama. According to the National Park website, "Widely recognized as the most important Latino leader in the United States during the twentieth century, César E. Chávez led farm workers and supporters in the establishment of the country's first permanent agricultural union. His leadership brought sustained international attention to the plight of U.S. farm workers, and secured for them higher wages and safer working conditions."

This unit is located in a remote area in the foothills of the mountains just east of Bakersfield and the central valley agricultural area. There is a small museum that they area working on, and a nice little bookstore. The memorial gardens, where Chavez is buried, is lovely and just outside the visitor center. We enjoyed talking to the park ranger, who shared her vision for the future of the park. Her passion and enthusiasm were inspiring.

The location was the headquarters for the United Farm Workers Union during the time of Chavez's work. Driving through the agricultural areas to get to the park unit (especially today when it was 105 degrees) is very appropriate and helps to create a context for the importance of the National Monument.

Park Unit 66: Redwood National and State Park

7/28/15. We started our journey through the Redwood National and State Park at one of the visitor's center to get our stamps and maps. According to the National Park website:  We first explored the coastal region with stunning views of the rocky landscape. There were stretches of beautiful beaches in between and waves that rolled in three or four at a time. 

It was quiet and peaceful and we found a picnic area on one of the bluffs where we sat and did watercolor paintings. It was a perfect spot: sunny but cool, beautiful views, and we had it all to ourselves.

After exploring the coastal area, we headed into the forest. The trees are so large, we couldn't see the tops from the car. We eventually parked by the "Big Tree" area and took a few paths through the woods. The quiet stillness was fabulous and we were by ourselves again for most of the time. It was so much fun to photograph the woods, which reminded us of Jurassic Park! 

We also did the tacky tourist activity of driving through the redwood tree, and headed south to stop at the other visitor centers (there are 4). We spent the rest of the day winding through the woods. Through hair pin turns and endless switchbacks, we drove 4 more hours to Fort Bragg, CA for our next day's adventure.

Park Unit 65: Crater Lake National Park

7/26/15. We had some extra time in our itinerary so we headed up north to Crater Lake National Park today. The ride is up into the mountains with terrific views of gorges, lakes, and waterfalls. We stopped first at the visitor center and then continued for quite a while on the park road. This built up the dramatic tension so effectively. We kept thinking, "Where's the lake?" "When are we going to see it?"

When we finally got to the first view point of the lake it was amazing! The color is a deep, bright, rich blue that doesn't seem possible in nature. The shape of the crater also brings home the fact that we were, indeed, standing inside a volcano cone that had blown off. Like most national parks, the level of awe is off the charts.

There were many viewing points with different perspectives on the lake, and places to stop. It was very windy and quite cool, and the most crowded park we've been to this summer.

It doesn't take long to drive around the lake, so it's a park that great to go to for a half day or so and just enjoy the magic of it's natural beauty.

Park Unit 63 & 64: Valor in the Pacific National Monument (Tulelake) and Lava Beds National Monument

7/25/15. We drove through miles and miles and miles of remote volcanic landscape to get to the Lava Beds National Monument.The best part of the drive to the park were the fabulous views of Mount Shasta. 

Just before heading on the main road to the park, we stopped at the Valor in the Pacific National Monument in Tule Lake. This was a Japanese-American

Internment Camp during WWII and was very similar to the Manzanar site we visited last year. There is not much here, but the Park Ranger was very informative.


We continued on for many more remote miles to the visitor center at Lava Beds National Monument. It is noted for its many caves and lava flows. We started out visiting the most accessible cave, the Mushpot, near the visitor's center. It was really interesting! The "cool factor" of being in a lava tube cave was very high and it was amazing to see the lava formations in stripes where it flowed down the tube. The ceiling of the cave looked like rough stucco from where the lava dripped and splashed. It was so hard to believe it was all real!

The remainder of the afternoon, we stopped and viewed lava flows and other formations. The black rough rock was everywhere and clearly showed the violent volcanic activity of centuries past.

We visited Fleener Chimneys which are spatter cones. These are tube-like chimney vents from which the basalt lava was flung. We climbed up the hill so that we could actually look down the chimneys. 

This park was well cared for with lots of wayside exhibits, picnic areas, etc. Not surprisingly, it was not crowded, since it is in such a remote area. We thoroughly enjoyed sitting in the sun, listening to wind and nothing else, enjoying the remote solitude.

Park Unit 62: Lassen Volcanic National Park

7/24/15. Wow, what an amazing park! We started off this morning walking up to the  "Sulphur Works" which are boiling mud pots by the side of the road. These were just incredible - like right out of a movie.  Here's a video of what it looked like:

The smell of sulphur and the hot steam were overwhelming.





Next we hiked up to Bumpass Hell Overlook. This was a 4 mile trail that was very challenging, especially at 8,000 ft. Although it was hard to breath and strenuous, the view of the steaming hydro-thermal area was worth it! The temperature of high-velocity steam jetting from Big Boiler, the largest fumarole in the park, has been measured as high as 322°F (161°C), making it one of the hottest fumaroles in the world.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving to other areas of the park and we had a lovely picnic lunch beside one of the mountain lakes. The sky during the whole day was a deep, deep clear blue without a single cloud. The air, although thin to breath, was clear, refreshing and very cool. There were many wildflowers in bloom and stunning views everywhere. This park is so pretty it must be where they must shoot the photographs for jigsaw puzzles and calendars!

After lunch we drove through the "Devastated Area" where one of the volcanoes erupted in 1914. The lava rocks were fascinating!

This shows the volcano in the distance and the rock that was thrown miles away.

Late in the afternoon, we went to the far side of the park to hike up to Cinder Cone and the Fantastic Lava Beds. The lava beds were a huge wall of broken chunks of rock that had spewed from the volcano hundreds of years ago.

This area was once a National Monument on its own, but were later incorporated into Lassen National Park when that was created. This cinder cone volcano looked like the surface of the moon and the whole area had the feel of outer space. It just didn't look real. We hiked to the bottom of the cinder cone, then Jason went on his own about a 3rd of the way up the extremely steep path. He vowed to return one day to get all the way to the top.

Here's a view from the path up the cinder cone that Jason took:

We left the park at dusk, completely exhausted, filthy with volcanic ash and dust, and thoroughly amazed at the beauty of this wilderness.