4/12/2023 – 4/13/2023
We were able to send the kiddo with grandpa for a couple of days and I took Antoinette up to Shasta Dam to get out of town and go camping. I stopped at the visitor center at the dam to nerd out and take some pics. It was really pretty. We walked around the top of the dam for a bit before driving across it and finding a campsite. I was hoping to find some BLM land to park on for free, but it was all an off road area. The van does not approve of off road very well. We ended up getting to the end of the road in a gully and having to back up a hill before getting to a place to turn around.
After getting registered at the campground we took a walk on an old railroad track that was turned into a bike trail. We walked for a couple hours, found a little waterfall, and an old tunnel. We got back around sunset made supper and hung out for the night.
The next day we spend driving and enjoying the scenery. We stopped in Shasta State Historic Park to walk around. There were ruins from the old mining town that were interesting. The next stop was at Whiskeytown National Recreation Area Visitor Center. This is a manmade lake that drowned Whiskeytown. It’s a very pretty area.
Our next stop was at Tower House Historic District. We did a little hike and checked out an old cemetery. We spent the rest of the day driving through Trinity National Forest on our way back to Chico. We actually found one of the places that I stopped for the night on a previous leg of my trip, the last pic.