Hornbrook, California: Continuing north. Slowly. No need to rush. Our presence is not required in Eugene until Friday afternoon. Thanksgiving traffic seems to have calmed down. The weather was just gorgeous in Corning this morning, so we took our time leaving. We both worked, we both ran, and then we headed north - knowing our next stop wasn't too far up the road.
As usual, we had to find a post office to ship Camping Journal orders, so exited to Dunsmuir, California in search of the local office. Before we found the post office, we found a letter carrier in her white truck. DT waved her down and she actually pulled-over and took my packages! Wow - great service! Thank you, USPS!
We stopped again for lunch at the rest stop just north of Weed - at an airstrip - that offers a gorgeous vista of Mt. Shasta.
Today's tale is going to go back quite a while. Circa 1977. DT spent the summer mapping the hills surrounding the area where I-5 crosses the Oregon-California border. This was not a paid position, he was with 30 other students, sleeping in tents, walking miles in the surrounding mountains, hills and fields, as part of the Geology program at the University of Oregon. He paid to spend the summer field mapping. DT has a hundred great stories from that summer, but he has never re-visited the area.So tonight we decided to try a newish RV resort on the Klamath River and see if there was anything he could remember from 1977.
Truth is, so much has changed there was practically nothing he could recall, except the names of certain peaks and rock formations. (You can take the boy out of geology, but you can't take geology out of the boy.)
It was easy for us to get a campsite tonight at the beautiful Blue Heron RV Park at Klamath Ranch Resort. The fishing season is over and we were the only guest in the 27 sites. Wonderful, as the only noise we will hear is the Klamath River running directly in front of our motorhome!
The view upriver...
... and down river. The salmon run has finished, but the steelhead are still running. There were just a few people fishing on the river today though. The resort rents drift boats, kayaks, float tubes and rubber rafts. The RV park is full-service with pull-in river front sites, bath house, laundry and free wifi. And just in case you have a helicopter - they have a helipad! Pretty sure this is the first RV park we have visited with a helipad. We have a super-long 50 amp site for $48 per night ($60 in the summer). The Fish Hook restaurant sits along the river and is (just our luck) closed on Monday! (PS: though only 7 miles east of I-5, we have no cell service.) The resort sits at 2250 feet elevation.
There is a trail up to the top of the hill behind the RV park. Do you think My Driver will attempt to run to the top tomorrow? Maybe I will walk to the top instead of my usual 3-mile slog? Maybe I will sleep in?After settling-in, we drove the Honda up to Iron Gate Reservoir along the Klamath River.
Please note a picnic table was delivered to our site (via a fork lift) after we checked-in! Though the weather was so pleasant this afternoon, it will freeze overnight, so I suspect the picnic table will not be used.The drive east along the Klamath River was just spectacular! We saw deer, osprey nests and countless water fowl. The sun was going down and color on the hillsides was gorgeous.
Really, really gorgeous.
Beautiful Iron Gate Reservoir - looking south. There is only one thing that could improve this view:
My Handsome Driver - back in his old stompin' grounds.
So pretty!
Copco Road isn't in the best of shape and parts of the road are gravel, but we were in the Honda and were too busy enjoying the gorgeous views and didn't worry too much about the road conditions - especially since we came across only a few cars on our drive. I would not advise taking your RV up this road... but if you have a small rig, there are many small seasonal campgrounds with pit toilets and fire rings scattered along the lake.
We saw many large groups of Coots gathering together as the sun set.
As a sliver of the moon appeared in the sky, we turned the Honda around and went back to our campsite. I cooked dinner (since the on-site restaurant is closed on Mondays) and we learned the very sad news that the Oregon Board of Higher Education poop-canned our beloved forward-thinking University President, Richard Lariviere. Idiots. Way to ruin our perfect day, you non-progressive sheep. I am ashamed to be an Oregonian today.Until my next update, I remain, your disappointed correspondent.