Klamath Falls

The Black Bear diner in Mt. Shasta is still there. In my memory it was a dingy place that served hamburger with dried out patty and wilted lettuce. It apparently has been remodeled and became much brighter. And the food was better this time.  I wasn't looking for it; it was conveniently located across Tesla supercharger and I had to drop in.

It was July 2006 that we stopped here, I think, on the way to backpack in Shasta-Trinity. This is what I looked like back then.

And this is what I look like now:

It was overcast in Sacramento when we left for Oregon. The smog got thicker and then the visibility dropped to half a mile by the time we got to Redding. The Carr Fire was almost extinguished but the aftermath lingered on. The smog didn't get any better as we approached Oregon. Oregon was under the assault from the fires in Washington and northern Oregon. This is the year of fire in the West coast.

We followed I-5 and Sacramento River up north and made a stop in Redding to see the Sun Dial Bridge. Then we walked down to the river and took dip. The water was icy enough to make my feet painful. Being closer to its source in Klamath Mountains makes it much colder than it is in Sacramento.

The next stop was Lower Klamath lake that wasn't. No water was visible except in the channels. It was a wetland covered with reeds. Lots of crows and white cranes and some hawks. There was supposed to be Bald Eagles there but we didn't see any. We might have if we made it to the observation deck, but was defended by swarm of mosquito so we had to turn around.

 We charged up the car and bedded down in Klamath Falls for the night. Another bed bug problem and we had to switch the hotel. The hotel had 70% rating and no mention of the bugs in the reviews, yet I was bitten the same.