Trailheads and Headwaters

There are of course, the "other places" that were visited over last weekend, that made that trip complete.

I post this for my own kids. They go back and see these photos and Jr. actually reads what is written. She reads "Jr." as Jerr and after some explaining now understands Mr. Jr. Ms. etc. and even knows that Jr. is actuallly a reference to her!

Shasta Dam

The trail loop at Burney falls

Moss covered volcanic rocks

The moss that covers the volcanic rocks

Burney Creek, after it came down the falls, before it joined Lake Briton (there is a panorama shot of Lake Briton in the first Mt. Shasta post)

Burney creek from the trail loop bridge

The water at the falls head, just before it drops off

Bunny flat trailhead

Reflection Lake at Lassen. We did go to Manzanita lake, a place that has been on my wish list for years because the reflection of the mountain in this lake is supposed to be breathtaking. It was so foggy on the lake that visibility was reduced to a few feet. We will go to this park another time, just to see Manzanita lake!

"Hot Rock". No, we are not talking about me! It is a rock that landed miles from the volcanic eruption in 1914 which was found to be hot a year after the eruption. There is a whole field full of rocks this size which just landed there in 1914. One can only imagine the magnitude of the devastation when we see fields of giant rocks and the trees that grow around these rocks almost a 100 years later.

Summit Lake at ~7000 feet

The little one posing at summit lake

Sulfur springs where hot ash gushes out of the mountain side

and becomes a river of ash. We have seen stuff like this in the movie, Dante's Peak. But here for the first time we saw a river of volcanic ash!

Think this place was called Eagle point. This is where we stopped to eat lunch. The sun out come out and we could feel the heat directly. So we remove our jackets and within seconds a gust of cold air that swirls from the mountain would descend on us. It was very weird. We did discover though that home packed curd rice and tamarind rice have the same delicious taste at 8000 feet as at sea level!

This trip had us see our ups and downs in terms of viewing things, but for the first time in a long long time, the kids behaved! They did not fall sick during the trip, get cranky, no "are we there yet" , no "I want to go home right now!" and that was a blessing.

Hope this becomes the new trend!

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Transformer

A dialogue on Mt. Shasta

Me: Get down from the van. Everyone is out
Jr: I want to stay inside the van. It is cold. I don't feel like it.
Me: Look at your sister.. she is already going towards the snow!
Jr: I dont care. I feel tired. Dont want to come
Me: How about if I carry you?
Jr: Okay. But I dont want to go near the snow.

15 minutes pass and we all walk a few hundred feet into the snow. someone starts a snow ball fight and then

Me : Are you having fun? Watch out.. it is slippery!
Jr : Daddy, this is really fun. I like it. Can you put me in "snowing class"?
Me : !!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Turtle Bay in Redding

As part of our recent trip, almost a whole day was spent at the Turtle Bay Exploration park in Redding.

We have driven past Redding many times without ever stopping to find out what this was all about! Thanks to Mitr, AnuP, and the rest of their gang, who visited this place the previous day, we got to spend a nice day with activities for the kids.

On our way to Mt. Shasta, Jr. empatically declared that "the trip was boring!". On further questioning she said "I only like trips with small driving and where there are structures!". What structures? was our question. The prompt answer as "Structures where kids can play!".

Well, this place had "structures" per her definition. It was nicely laid out. A little bird house where kids got to feed parakeets, a butterly garden, a beautiful kids play area with picnic tables where we had our lunch.

When you have four uncles in the party (namely periappa, chitappa, mama and uncle!) you get a chance to actually free up your hands from kids! It is always nice to have the extra "uncle" hands! Balaji, my brother, BIL and BIL's housemate are all a big hit with the kids!

Many a type of "butterchi's"!

And let us not forget the "bumble bee"!

You cross this and go to a museum, gift store and cafe. The museum had a display of the local fish and some history of Indian tribes that occupied the area. We never figured out why the place was called Turtle bay, but this museum did have a few turtles swimming in the display cases and a wall of little metal turtles with peoples names on it! The little one displayed her counting skills "one, two, four hundred, two fifty...."

Then you get to cross the Sundial bridge. It was neat and clean and had amazing views of the sacramento river This place is apparently more beautiful in the night when the bridge has lights on it, but we could not wait that late. The little one was so thrilled to run around the glass surface on the bridge and pet all the doggies that were on the bridge.

On the other side of the bridge is a international garden of sorts with little sections of plants from every major continent. There were also some interesting ponds, water fountains and bonzai displays.

The right caption for this picture would be "Cute - On Demand!"

It was long walk and on the other end of the garden was a kids play area with a beautiful water fountain and a "structure" made from willow branches which made Jr.'s day.

Pavan uncle watching the kids while they pose. They definitely did a better job of posing from the fountain top compared to the mountain top!

If your kid demands "structures" and you have no clue what "structures" are, they are there in the Turtle Bay Exploration area. Even if you dont spot them, your kids will!

Strongly recommended as a break for kids in between trails, hikes, snow, forests, lakes and mountains.

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