Day 36: To Burney Falls state park

August 14, 2009

Today was mostly downhill with the fastest average speed of the tour. The temperature got down to 45F overnight. I got on the road at 8:20 wearing a jacket, tights, and wool socks.

The first stop was at Manzanita Lake to take a picture of Lassen and the lake. The sun angle would have been much better yesterday afternoon.

Lassen Peak and Manzanita Lake, looking into the morning sun.

Leaving Lassen Volcanic National Park I had a long mostly gentle downhill to the Hat Creek Valley. Almost immediately in the valley I saw areas that had burned recently. Many firefighters were in the area inspecting the smoldering aftermath. I asked a firefighter when the fires burned, and he said last week.

The Hat Creek fire burned one week ago. Some places were still smoldering. This was one of my last views of Lassen Peak.

The fire really opened up the valley. It's now much easier for fishermen to get to the creek bank. A century of fire suppression surely allowed trees to encroach into the valley, so the fire probably restored the normal balance.

The Hat Creek valley is sparsely populated but there are a few dozen houses near the highway. Nearly every house had a large homemade sign saying "Thank You Firefighters".

Fortunately the Hat Creek Rest Area didn't burn. It's a popular fishing place.

I was told that the firefighters saved every house in the area. Only a few outbuildings burned. But the flames went VERY close to several houses. It's hard to imagine what it would be like to evacuate my home and then wait to find out if everything I own was destroyed or not.

I suspect the open lawn saved the church more so than the efforts of firefighters.

The road was less than wonderful. In this area highway 89 has no shoulder. But there are quite a few trucks on the road. I was squeezed off the pavement a couple times when trucks came both ways.

At the intersection of highways 89 and 299 I detoured west to the town of Burney to get groceries and cash. There isn't a single town on highway 89 for about 200 miles. So I had to make the 11 mile round trip detour on busy highway 299.

Back on highway 89 it was only 6 easy miles north to Burney Falls State Park. The elevation is only 2950 feet. I dropped nearly 3000 feet today. I arrived at 3PM (very early for me). The park has a hiker/biker site because it's very close to the Pacific Crest Trail. I had the site ($3) to myself, but in the evening a PCT hiker stopped by for a few minutes to chat.

The main attraction is Burney Falls. It's a very impressive waterfall, dropping 129 feet. The average flow is about 100 million gallons per day. Amazingly, all this water just gushes out of the ground 1 mile upstream from the falls.

129-foot Burney Falls from the upper viewing platform.

I hiked all around the area. The main trail is a 1.2 mile "falls loop". But I hiked a total of 3 miles getting around the park.

Burney Falls from below. Flow is 100 million gallons per day from nearby springs.

The hiker/biker site is well away from the main campground. That gives it privacy, but it was a 5 minute walk to the nearest water and toilets. And even farther to the showers. I couldn't see the highway but I could hear it. The hiker/biker site is much closer to the highway than the main campground. But it's hard to complain because it only cost $3. It was my first state park hiker/biker site since leaving the coast weeks ago.

Log building built by the Civilian Conservation Corps in the 1930's.

As expected, the weather is much warmer because of the lower elevation. High of about 85F. This is another major low point on my route. Tomorrow I will cross the Pit river and then begin climbing towards Medicine Lake volcano.

Today was a VERY easy day. Mostly downhill with a tailwind and minimal climbing. Today had by far the highest average speed of the tour. Most days I only average about 9 mph. I could have gone much further today but I wanted to see the waterfall.

Distance: 56.5 mi (90 km)

Climbing: 864 ft (262 m)

Average speed: 14.1 mph (22.56 km/h)

Max speed: 35 mph 956 km/h)

Hiking: 3 mi (4.8 km)

Today's ride: 57 miles (92 km)
Total: 1,550 miles (2,494 km)

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