Northern California

Jack London State Historic Park ❤️🏠🚗⭐

I almost skipped these park. It just didn’t really come off to me as interesting, but all I knew about Jack London was Call of the Wild and White Fang, books I was forced to read in school. Oh, and Jack London Square in Oakland. 

Well, I am very happy I came here. Upon arriving, we paid the 10 dollar park fee and I talked to the park ranger for a bit, asking questions on what to see, as I only wanted to invest an hour here. She was extremely knowledgeable and friendly. She told me if I only had that much time, I should briefly check out the Beauty Ranch, then go to the museum and Wolf House ruins. So, thats what I did. I went to the Beauty Ranch (make a right from the entrance to the parking lot) which had some old buildings and ruins, and trails that went off to other locations. I enjoyed my time here as I love history and these are history.

Then we went back to the parking lot and drove to the other parking lot by the museum, as the Wolf House ruins were located near there. On the easy trail, we found a T intersection. To the left was Jack London’s grave site and to the right, the Wolf House ruins. We decided to go to the grave site first, which was a short walk, and then proceeded to the Wolf House ruins.

The Wolf House ruins were amazing. When I think of ruins I think of My Son Sanctuary in Vietnam, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, Machu Pichu in Peru, or the many ruins in Mexico, but these were some legit ruins here in the Bay Area. I really enjoyed walking around the area and seeing different parts of these ruins.

Finally, we went to the museum. I learned quite a bit about Jack London as I talked to the worker there for about 20 minutes. I told her my interest in photography and she shared a book of photos Jack London took of the 1906 earthquake. He’s a legit photographer. I actually saw a lot of myself in Jack London reading his quotes, talking to the workers there and looking at books. 

I am way over an hour now, but I love soaking the game! The lady told me that I should go back to the Beauty Ranch to see the cottage which opens at noon. Well, that 1 hour trip was about to be longer as it wasn’t noon yet.

We drove back to the other parking lot and I asked some questions about the lake which is a farther hike, but she told me that the lake is dry right now. During that conversation there was this dude with his family across the parking lot pissed about something. I wasn’t really paying attention, but he was even louder than me. Actually he made me look like a mouse. The lady I was talking to looked annoyed, but I was more into our conversation. I thanked her, and we left.

We headed back to the ranch and hit a trail to see the pig pens, during that walk this dude really made me look like a mouse. I won’t lie. I am loud, I can be obnoxious, and I also can be an asshole. I hike fast, I don’t tire, and I expect anyone I’m with to keep up with me. I get irritated. This dude was yelling at his wife and kids in a manner that made me look docile. I mean he was saying shit like “Stay on the fucking trail! I know where to go you fucking idiots!” I almost confronted him about it, because that shit is not ok in my book, but I didn’t know where he was. He was just so loud the whole park can hear him. I mean I could see that behavior in the 80s, but 2024? Not really. It made me wonder what he does with them behind closed doors.

Eventually he was far gone and we were heading to the cottage, and then we heard another one of his outbursts probably from a mile away. This dude was a clown.

The cottage was also interesting. Two older men were there sharing more knowledge. I talked to them for about 20 or 30 minutes, then checked out the cottage, and then did a small tour with one of them.

I am going to have to say this. I love talking to old people. They seem like they want to talk a lot and share information. When I encounter people in their 20s, 30s and even 40s, they have these hurt ass masks, look glum, and don’t really want to talk, or just glued to their phones. So I usually always talk to people older than me now as they are far more friendlier and wise.

I ended up spending like 3 hours here. It really is a great park, but it depends how deep you get into it. I really immersed myself into the park and I am glad I did. 

Old Faithful Geyser of California ❤️🏠🚗

I think this place really tries to make you comfortable when you come here. The point of these place is there's a geyser that shoots every hour or so. So timing is crucial. I planned to get lunch and eat there because I knew this. We went to Safeway, got some sandwiches and came to this spot. It was hella hot! Probably around 100 degrees. They are various shaded areas with sofas and chairs, which is nice. They have a gift shop, a couple of old school games, and a small farm with animals. The price is 15 bucks per person, which is overpriced even with what they have. Realistically, it should be like 5 bucks, but I never seen a geyser, so for me it was worth it. JUST ONE TIME! Everyone was waiting while I was eating lunch, and then bam it happened! The good news is the geyser lasts a long time, probably around 2 minutes. I was worried it would be like 5 seconds. Once its done, well that's kind of it. To make the cost worth it, the owners probably should give a bag of food to guests to feed the animals for free, add a couple more simple games, or lower the price. When thinking about Lassen Volcanic National Park, which we will get to, it costs 30 USD. That's a 7 day pass to see an incredible place where you can do tons of outdoor activities as opposed to 15 to see a geyser. If you never seen a geyser and now is your chance, sure, but otherwise maybe pass due to the cost.

Redding ❤️🏠📸

Our home base was Redding. It was hot this summer, hitting 110 degrees. The town of about 89k people, is aight, especially if you’re into outdoor activities. However, its still over an hour to Lassen National Park and in some cases further, depending what area of the park you go to. 

Sundial Bridge ❤️🏠

We hit this location after Lassen. Its an interesting bridge in an area called Turtle Bay. If it wasn’t 100+ degrees out, we probably would have explored it. There seemed to be a lot of places to go to like restaurants, museums, gardens, trails, and more. I didn’t feel like exploring randomly in that type of weather.

Lunas: Latin-Asian Fusion and Bar

I hit this joint for a couple reasons. One, it mentioned gluten free and two, I like Mexican and Asian food and have had fusions before that I liked. While my guest wasn't happy with her burger, I tried some Thai and Korean fusion tacos and enjoyed my meal. What I liked most about this place is they can make most of their menu gluten free. Anything with bread they cant, unless you go with a lettuce wrap, but everything else? Hell yeah!

Shasta Dam ❤️🏠📸🚗

I came here after going to Caldwell park in Redding. I was looking for a place to shoot the sunset and was gonna go do it at Caldwell park, but some dude I was talking to told me to go to the Shasta dam, so I did. A mere 20 minutes from our hotel, we went to the massive dam and enjoyed our time there. There are lots of deer in the evening, and the dam is huge. The weather was more mild, we hung out here for about 2 hours. Walking across the dam, taking pictures and videos, talking to security, (who were friendly to me, though in reviews people were saying they were assholes) and watching deer.

Lassen Volcanic National Park ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

This was the main feature for me! Going to Lassen. This park is amazing, and I’ve been to a lot of parks in California. We entered from the south entrance and there is a 26 mile drive through the park to the north gate, and it changes up quite a bit. You’re seeing pristine lakes, burnt out trees, lush trees, vivid landscapes, bubbling mud pools, and more. I’m pretty sure none of the hikes exceeded 5 miles round trip and most were about 3 miles. Let’s break down what we did:

Sulphur Works

Near the parking lot is hot bubbling mud. I know it doesn’t sound that cool, but it's dope as fuck! At least I thought so. There are also some nice views around here.

There are quite a bit of places to park off the side of the road to see some nice views. We didn’t do this much because we had focused plans, but if you have time most def take advantage.

Bumpass Hell

The parking lot was full when we got here. Cars waiting, I had to navigate around them. There was a guy changing his shoes, I thought it was staying, but he was going. I left and in the rear view I saw him waving back to me. I gave him a thumbs up! I certainly have lost faith in humanity, but sometimes you meet some good people. This dude waiting for me to come around again, after navigating yet again cars waiting to park and gave me his spot. I am so happy this happened because not only did I have an awesome hike, but gained a lot of information!

Bumpass Hell was an easy hike for me. It has beautiful views and the main part is its hydrothermal area with mud pots, fumaroles and boiling springs. You can go along the wooden walkway, but there is also a path that goes beyond this area parallel to the walkway that gives you a really nice view of the whole area, plus it continues on. We did not go further.

It was here that I met a group of people who told me about Paradise Meadow. (More into that later.)  It is very wise to interact with people. You can get real gems of information. I greet everyone I encounter and often talk to people on the trails,  but I usually engage people who are 50+ as they tend to be more friendly and talkative, as well as provide better information. 

Paradise Meadow

If you are heading north via the south gate you will come to a small parking lot. If its full then a couple hundred meters away you can park on the side of the road.. Maybe 3 cars worth of space. From that parking lot is the Paradise Meadow trailhead. If you see the sign for Hat Lake, you passed it. If you park on the side of the ride like I did, you walk past the Hat Lake sign and soon you will come to the Paradise Meadow trailhead. It’s an easy hike for most of the way until it starts going uphill. Still easy, going downhill is hard for me. Uphill is easy. It gets really beautiful as you begin your ascent. There are two waterfalls along the way, and the whole area is beautiful. Then you hit the meadow which is gorgeous! I spent some time here just to relax and take photos and videos. 

Devastated Area Loop Trail

This trail is super short and easy. I expected a bunch of burnt out trees, but there wasn’t. It was a simple trail with information and some cool rocks. It takes about 10 minutes, why not?

Manzanita Lake

Near the end of the drive, or the beginning of the North entrance is Manzanita lake. This easy trail around the lake is really nice. It has some great views and it's very relaxing and chill. There is a museum which closes at 5pm I believe. Here you can kayak and swim. Very peaceful. You might as well check out Reflection lake which is right across the road.

Lassen costs 30 dollars per car for a 7 day pass. Well worth it, but you can do some Lassen hikes that are free.

Subway ❤️🏠🚗⭐

After leaving Manzanita lake, we went to the Subway, which is a lavatube. I learned about this spot from the guy who dropped off my rental car, via KYTE. Remember how I said its good to talk to people? You never know who's going to lace you with game. Not only did he mention Subway, but he also mentioned there's an additional tunnel. Ill come back to this, as I like to go in order of my trip. I’m making this a blog as much as a guide.

Subway was cool. My light actually did well and the lavatube is cool, though Lassen was already cool compared to Redding. From 110 to about 80. You wander through the subway and eventually come out the other end. I don’t know where the other end leads to, so I went back into the lavatube to the parking lot.

This was almost the end of our day. There was one more spot to check out near McArthur- Burney Falls. We didn’t go there because the trail to the falls is closed.

Bridge from “Stand by Me” ❤️🏠🚗

I don’t get much traffic on my website or youtube videos or anything I do. The few who do, I have no idea how old they are or where they are from. There was a movie called Stand by Me, with River Pheonix, Will Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and Jerry O’Connel, but even Kiefer Sutherland and John Cusack were in it. So you got some 80’s powerhouse actors. This film came out in 1986, and my older sister was IN LOVE with Will Wheaton. We probably saw this on VHS. I was hella young, but got the general idea of the film. 4 teens go on a hike to find the dead body of a missing boy. Well, this bridge is the bridge that they crossed all those years ago. Its closed off, but you can still cross it I didnt because there were 4 pick ups parked in front and I was hearing a lot of action on the other side. I am not comfortable in the middle of nowhere with a bunch of people I don’t know, especially if they seem to be acting hyphy. I took some photos and videos and bounced.

Oh, so this trip happened late July 2024. On the way to the Stand by Me bridge, there was a radio announcement about a fire. I never heard warnings like this and other drivers were driving around, so I thought nothing of it. We headed back to Redding.

The next day we headed back to Lassen because the guy who dropped off my rental told me to hike the Cinder Cone trail. That trail is a long drive. Almost two hours from Redding. About 40 minutes into the drive it was apparent that something was off. The sky was hazy and there wasn't fog. I made a guess that there was a fire somewhere. 

Before going to the Cinder Cone, I stopped by the north end of Lassen and talked to the park ranger at the gate. She told me there was a fire near Chico. I was like is it ok to hike here? She said for now, yes.

The drive to the cinder cone was cool because there were a lot of burned out trees which adds an eerie feel to the place, but the sky was all hazy, and the Cinder Cone hike reviews stated by everyone it's a grueling difficult hike, but the views are amazing and well worth it. But what happens if there are no views?

We continued on the road only to come to an accident. A pretty crazy one. Won't go into details, but we were stuck for a bit. When we finally were able to go, you hit a right into Butte Lake. The road sucks, but any car can make it through, high clearance 4WD would have been better, but you can do it with any car. 5.5 miles was pretty long. Oh, and during this time the areas we were driving were on and off hazy. Before the accident, it was super hazy, afterwards clear skies.

Cinder Cone Trail ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

We arrived at Lake Butte, parked and headed off. I was super happy because the skies were clear. We got to the base of the volcano and BAM, the haze was creeping in. Met a guy coming down and asked, “Its getting hazy, should I even go up?” He said, “It’s super windy, I would go another day.” I said “It’s now or never.” He said, “then do it.”

I didn’t really want to go up because everyone told me how hard this trail was. The cinder cone is made of loose gravel and sand, many saying going up one step only to go back 3. Fuck it! Let’s do it.

This hike made me think of the Kelso Dunes in Mojave National Preserve in southern California. Super easy hike until you hit the dune, and then while not long, it’s pretty tiring.

I began the climb to the cinder cone. Sorry folks, this shit was false advertising. It was like when I did Mt. Jade, the highest peak in Taiwan. We got up at 3 AM to see the sunrise. Everyone was like “it takes 2 hours to climb up to the top” from where we were. I did it in 45 minutes and when I got to the top, it was so cold and windy and I was huddled for an hour next to a rock freezing my ass off before my friend came and we hugged each other for another hour before the sun rose. It was beautiful, but the wait was intense and a horrible experience.

I began my ascent and made it to the top in like 10 minutes. It was hella easy. I stopped twice to take pictures and drink some water. It wasn’t hard at all. I was kind of pissed off. This is why I connect these locations to google maps, because I want you to read a variety of comments, not just mine. Most of my experiences NEVER mirror other peoples. The top sure was windy as hell. That was the worst part. The haze was in. I got to the the lava bed and painted hills and lakes, but the haze kinda ruined it all. I do photography, so I was disappointed. It only got worse as time went on. I don’t regret it, but I wasn’t happy either.

Remember I said it's great to talk to old people? It is, but here I talked to 3 groups of young people. First was a group of late teens young 20's who asked me to take a picture of them and we began talking. I love talking to people vastly different from me. Since I rarely talk to youngsters, its really nice to hear their perspectives on the world. The second was a girl, maybe a teenager as I was walking down the cinder cone. Her and I were having problems going down while her adult (turned out to be her dads friend) had no issues getting down. So we had our moment on the trail and when we got to the bottom, I met her whole family and talked to them for about 20 minutes. Good times. Last, was a trio from Las Vegas. Some college students who I walked back to the campsites with. Very fruitful for me.

On the way down I began taking photos of the trees covered in haze which was cool. I completely recommend this hike! The views are spectacular. They were great even with the haze, but the painted hills and lava beds were dope from above. It’s a unique place. I was gonna go north and chase waterfalls, but instead we decided to do this.

We also went back to the Subway lavatube. Why? Because the KYTE driver told me there's a secret passage by the stairs with another tube. I decided to head back because I wasn’t sure about this fire. Went to the Subway and hes right. The first stair case, you go over the rail, and come to another cave. There are 2 ways. One was fenced off, but the other kept going and going. I didn’t go too far because I didn’t have a great flashlight and I wasn’t sure how much juice I had. I have no idea when and where it ends, but its another route people probably don’t use. Let me know if you ever do it.

On the way back, we went back to the north entrance, to the museum for information. I wanted to do more hikes and come back the next day. He told me even if the fire is contained and everything works out perfectly, there's no way there won't be haze the next day. I then asked about doing a hike now and for his advice. With fire danger extreme and hazardous park rangers can’t give you tips on what to do. He told me to go back to Redding and watch a movie. 

So we headed back to Redding. Thanks fucking 42 year old Northern California man for pushing a burning car down a gully. You ruined a lot of peoples lives, you fucking piece of shit, not only that you caused the 5th largest wildfire in California history!

Next day it was time to head back, but I had the car until 9:30 pm, so it was time to make a 3 hour drive back to Frisco a 7 hour drive. We headed west toward the coast.

Shasta State Historic Park ❤️🏠🚗

Right on HWY 299, not far from Redding you will come to some ruins from the gold rush. I had to stop and explore. We just checked out the ruins and read some of the information, but theres more to this park. It was a nice little stop.

Pioneer Baby’s Grave

Right after the park, along the road there is a sign for the baby's grave. Interesting story, that you can read if you go there. The actual grave is a bit further off and down. If you look, you’ll find it.

Whiskey Town Lake ❤️🏠🚗

We didn’t go here but drove past it. Looks like a legit cool spot to chill when it's not 103 degrees.

Shoes Tree

Right off the road on hwy 36, if you are heading west, on the left side is a tree with dozens and dozens of shoes. It's kind of cool. If you want to get rid of shoes, this is a perfect place!

Cheatham Grove ❤️🏠📸🚗⭐

Some of Return of the Jedi was filmed here. Endor, ewoks! This place was beautiful. The weather was cool, lots of shade with light hitting areas here and there. It's a simple and short loop trail. It’s out of the way, but if you are around the area, why not go to a place where one of my favorite Star Wars movies was filmed? This grove is also on hwy 36, about 30 minutes from the Shoes Tree.

The Peg House

I learned about the Peg House on HWY 101 from an OG I met in Lake Tahoe named Jim. He told me some good information about Oregon, but also mentioned this restaurant called the Peg House and their burgers. Said they were hella good! I had to go, and he was right. Not gluten free, but you probably could use lettuce for the bread, but they had vegan options and it was hella good. They have a stage, a beautiful little flower garden. Just a nice, chill place with great food.

Drive-Thru Tree Park

This place is about 5 or 10 minutes south of the Peg House. You drive through a big ass tree. It costs 15 USD. Its way over priced. There is a nice pond and meadow, and it's a nice location with a store, but it should be 5 bucks.

Well there you have it. I think I wrote this in more of a blog form because I am leaving California and moving to China. As a California native and born and raised Frisconian, I feel like I have achieved a fairly high level of knowledge pertaining to California. Still a lot more to see, but I have seen a lot of California. 

This chapter of my life is now over. I will continue the website but will be going back to doing other countries. I have no idea how busy I will be in China, but I hope to continue to work on this website, my youtube channel, and photography, but photography is my main passion because at least I can decorate my house with my photos. This website and my youtube channel get little to no traction, so they will be the first to go, if I don’t have the time.

It’s been fun! For those who have used my website and watched my videos, I hope they have been helpful.

The next time I enter an entry, I’ll be in China! Peace and keep being curious!