Lake Almanor
Friday | 4 May 2001 | Chester, California:
Goldie headed north on I-5 around 11:00 a.m. We didn't know where we were
going, or what we were doing, but knew we could be home in two short days if
we didn't take some sort of detour. An immediate turn, east or west, was
needed. We had just spent the week on the beach, so we headed east to the
mountains. At the point of this decision, the next exit was Highway 113 - so
that was our new route. We followed 113 through agricultural country to
Highway 99 and finally followed the beautiful Feather River,
along Highway 70. This was a very scenic drive, one of the nicest drives we
have ever taken. Though seriously dammed, the Feather River is very pretty,
in deep canyons, often flowing through huge boulders. We stopped for
lunch at a relaxing spot - the sun was hot, a little stream was loudly
bubbling into the river and the bank was covered with blooming lupines.
The Feather River
At Paxton, we headed north on Highway 89 to Lake
Almanor and found a rustic campground near Chester, California. We
had a lake-side site and enjoyed the sunset watching hawks, geese, stellar
jays, quail, larks and black birds. Lake Almanor is at record lows,
according to a fellow camper, because the "damned bankrupt PG&E is making
electricity like crazy and keeping all the profits, since they are protected
from their creditors". Since we had never seen the lake, high or low, we
just enjoyed the views and didn't think of the politics. The campground was
very, very old - in tall, old trees. A cool oasis of a forest. Three campers
spend the summer in premium lake-front campsites surrounded by luxurious
green lawn. One camper has a headstone at his site reading: "Hear lies the
last dog that pooped on my grass." (His spelling, not mine.)
North shore of Lake Almanor
Much later, we enjoyed a delicious meal of spaghetti tossed
with Myzithra, greek salad and freshly-baked-by-me Challah. Even later, we
watched a stoopid film, Meet the Parents, really bad, but we
laughed a lot.
RV Park:
North Shore Campground
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