Northern California

Evening light atop a wind-blasted ridge with the Sierra Buttes in the background.

One of my best bear encounters ever. I was walking through a fir forest when I suddenly heard a commotion just ahead of me, with claws digging into bark and something else crashing through the woods away from me. I came around the corner to see two black bear newborns scrambling up this tree (sorry for the blurriness -- they were way up in the tree and they are very small, literally teddy bear size) and mom's rear-end in the distance. I also saw two other black bears this day, making 5 total.

The green moss on these fir trees indicates the average snow depth during the winter. In this case, the moss is about 12 feet up the trees.

The terrain became increasingly volcanic (exemplified by these basalt outcrops) as I moved north towards Oregon.

At the PCT mid-point, which served as my approximate quarter-point as well.

A steam vent in Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Terminal Geyser

If there had been more water in the creek this could possibly have made for an excellent hot spring bath.

Georgi Heitmann, another trail angel extraordinaire, cooking up a mean breakfast of eggs and French toast. Georgi has a few rules to her place, one of which is "no leftovers."

Lassen Peak, the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range, from the Hat Creek Rim.

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