I've moved since the last time I posted. I now live in this cute, quiet little green house in the forest, on the compound. My truck is parked and spends most of its time acting as a reflecting-board for sunsets, when it's not driving me home to see Jack. And in the house, a fair amount of the time, is Jax, the lovable chocolate lab/Australian shepherd mix that one of my housemates got approved to stay with us for the summer.
I had one weekend to myself to go hiking and I took full advantage. I bandit camped off Fence Creek Road and hiked to Wheats Meadow and back. It was absolutely lovely out there. I wouldn't mind spending a week just hiking around the greater region of that valley. The terrain was so inviting, the creeks slow and clear - they reminded me of the creek behind my grandparents' house that I used to play in as a kid. Anyhow, lots of photos will follow the written section of this post to show those adventures.
My parents came out to visit - no photos of that yet as they took most of them! But it was a great time all-around. They came up to see the Pinecrest area for a quick overnight, then drove up to our place in Westwood. Together we explored the area, renting bikes and going down the Bizz Johnson Trail. It was a beautiful, mostly-downhill, 26 miles from Westwood to Susanville that I would gladly ride again. We also drove around Lake Almanor and explored that, and I showed them our local reservoir over here. I had to go back to work, so Jack sent them off the next day with recommendations for Lassen National Park, where I think they spent the entire day until supper time!
The best news right now is that I got my days off changed for work, so now I am off on Thursdays and Fridays, which means I have a day off in common with Jack, PLUS I don't have to go into work until 12:30 on Saturdays (for now at least), so I don't have to leave until Saturday morning. That means I get 3 nights and 2 days at home if I come home on a weekend. Which will probably happen a bit more often in the next 6 weeks, since I have until the end of programs to keep coming into work late on Saturdays.
Summer is going by fast! I'm still loving my job, and hoping that I'll have time between school and visits home to actually explore the place I'm working in. I figure I should take advantage of the good schedule for the next several weeks, though, and come home, because it will change once programs stop and then it will also be less busy so I can explore with more solitude.
Also, I am saving up to rent a llama for a backpacking trip. It's a summer goal. $70/day and you can have a shaggy friend carry your bag for you while you traverse through the mountains... I can hardly wait!
Until next time!
Campsite Photos:
On the Wheats Meadow Trail:
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| Applegate's Paintbrush, yarrow, and juniper berries |
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| Yarrow leaf - this stuff smells beautiful and is a deterrent to mosquitos! |
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| Torrey's Monkeyflower (or some other variety), and the little ellow flowers are likely Muir's Ivesia (or some other variety)... I think... |
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| Looking at the Dardanelles - volcanic geology at its finest |
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| Some more Dardanelles in the distance |
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| Wandering Daisy |
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| Thimbleberry Flowers - my favorite berry of all time! |
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| Corn Lily |
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| White-veined Wintergreen - I rarely see this with flowers on it |
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| Most likely some variety of Gilia |
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| Duck pond... couldn't snag a picture of them, but there was a whole family of ducks here. They all hid in the rushes as soon as I came up, and even when I tried to sneak back up there on the way back they were gone. |
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| Remnants of an old fence or gate? |
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| Western Bistort |
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| Wheats Meadow!! |
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| Wheats Meadow Creek... I could've crossed it, but I didn't feel like taking my boots off. |
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| Subalpine Larkspur |
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| Duck pond and Dardanelle |
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| Smaller meadow along the trail |
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| Mountain Spiraea |
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| Little pink wildflower carpet in the degenerated granite. |
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| Mystery flower - perhaps it was a young willow or something, but I honestly have no idea. Couldn't find anything like it in my book. |
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| Checker bloom - this might be a new favorite! |
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| Lemmon's Catchfly, getting a visit from a bumblebee... sorry it's so blurry. |
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Stepping stones across Dardanelles Creek
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| Another pond along the trail |
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| If I could only have found the last piece to this puzzle, I probably would've brought it home... nuts! |
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| Roadside waterfall! |
