Day 6 - fishing and waterfalls

Our campsite was right next to Hat Creek, and I had read that it is a major fishing destination. At first light I realized that was quid an understatement. Aside from the bicyclist and hikers (all of whom were gone by 8am) everybody camped there was there for one reason - fishing. Young and old, they all walked the hundred feet or so to thecreekfor fishing. I brought our fishing pole too, so After breakfast Nd a quick ride to the store for a tub of night crawlers, we joined the masses along the creek. Our first real turn of bad luck then struck - on the first cast, my reel fell apart. Done, kaput. Benna was crestfallen. We returned to our campsite and I tried to repair it, but it was hopelessly broken. At the same time, another family was setting up camp where the bicyclist had departed. I made some friendly small talk and mentioned the broken reel. Our friendly neighbor said "hold on..." Then went to his truck and pulled out a bag, reached in and pulled out several spare reels. We were back in business! Benna spent the a morning trying her hand at fishing. I was too cheap to buy a fishing license, so I had to stand and watch.

After drowning several worms I suggested that we walk to where some other folks seemed to be having some luck. These two guys were pulling trout out with every cast! I guess with trout fishing, you can have a run of luck in one spot and she come up empty for the rest of the day. The guy was very friendly and when we told him that Benna had never caught a fish, he quickly hooked one and handed her the rod, then coached her on bringing it in. It was good to get some help in this department, obviously I still have some things to learn about being a dad!

After lunch we took a drive to the Hat Creek Radio Observatory, home of the Allen Telescope Array, a major site for SETI research. Benna slept through it.

OK, so I didn't actually take pictures because it was unremarkable, but the location was very peaceful and pretty.

Next stop was Burney Falls, a state park about 20 miles north of Lassen. I almost decided to turn back after the radio observatory, but I am really glad I decided not to, because it was really amazing.

The sun was too low, but earlier in the day the spray produces rainbows and the place must be magical. No wonder it was considered a sacred spot by the natives. A amazing fact is that the stream feeding the falls is dry a mere mile upstream. All of this water emerges from springs and as you can see in the pictures a lot of the water actually flows out from the face of the cliff. The area's volcanic history Is to blame.

It had been a long day, so we fixed up cowboy style chili (warmed in the can over the fire) and tried to sleep. 

So......Our new neighbors were friendly and they had generously loaned us a reel, but they were, well, basically a redneck family. They had unloaded the pickup truck and set up an entire outdoor smorgasbord, multi burner stove, multiple lanterns, and country music playing on the stereo. I had to wonder as I lay in my tent, unable to fall asleep, why did they come all the way out here? Then I remembered why - to go fishing! They sat up late playing cards and drinking beer under the blaring lanterns, oblivious to the glorious stars overhead or the majestic mountains minutes away. God bless America. And thanks for the Ambien, dad.