Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

We’re on the home stretch now. We spent the last couple of nights at Castle Crags State Park, a lovely wooded area where we lucked on the one site, next to a meadow, where we could get a satellite signal. Don and I have very different needs; he likes to be online (in a natural wooded setting) and I like to go hiking and fa-la-la-ing in the forest. It works very well. (Okay, you won’t catch me singing in the forest, but I have to pet those forest child tendencies once in a while, you know?)

So this morning I headed out on a little hike up to the vista point. The Castle Crags are very surprising as you travel up the interstate…it’s all wooded hills and mountains and then WHOAH! This great big wall of crenellated granite leaps out at you. After my incredibly lazy night (and an interesting campfire which we extinguished after we became aware of glowing eyes watching us, Scooby-Doo-style), I headed up the road to the vista point. After some while I found a path that said “Vista Point trail” so I took it.

It was steep, and went right through boring pine forest. Now I’m sorry, pine trees, but pine forest doesn’t and never has done it for me. There’s little undergrowth, it’s all very uniform, and beneath the trees it was humid and sticky. No views. And did I mention that it was steep? And long? I would have been at the top in about 15 minutes if I’d stuck to the road. As it was I reckon I added at least another mile to my hike.

Towards the top I was prepared to get very cross as there as caution tape was stretched across parts of the trail. I thought it was closed but fortunately only parts were. But when I reached the vista point it was quite disappointing as they were digging it up to make it accessible (I have no problem with them making it accessible to wheelchairs, but they left it a mess where you couldn’t just sit and contemplate the rather impressive view).

So that was that. I set off down the hill and that part of the walk went much more quickly. ;)

An interestingness: there were hundreds of bees hovering over the road, buzzing me as I passed. I read a sign which said that they were carpenter bees, California’s largest species and likely to be male, which don’t sting. It was a bit unnerving to have them hovering there, but it was good to know they wouldn’t sting me. Nobody ever died of annoyance. ;)

So that’s it. We’re going to swing by Redding and get my brake pads, recycle, then go home so that I can start the blogathon. (Over at Raven’s Range, if you’re interested.)

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• Castle Crags
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• Bedtime for me

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