Stumbling into exactly what I needed

We left Lassen National Forest after two weeks of roaming around the back roads surrounding the national park. We chose to spend one more week up in the mountains to avoid the heat of the valley. It was the Shasta area that we wanted to see next, so Northward we went in search of another back road weekend adventure in a new forest.

However, on the first night we didn’t make it far at all. Friday evening, and only just past our northern-most-already-visited-point of Burney Falls, we pulled off the highway and onto a forest road in search of a little peace and quite for the night. We drove a few miles and saw nothing of interest. Then came an intersection, where the off-branch road got smaller. We took it, driving another mile or so of nothing special before we were talking about turning around. The end of this road was coming up fast, and just as we approached it the area to our right opened up into a beautiful waving grass meadow with some oaks sprinkled about. A large clearing at the end of the road overlooked this meadow, and a hill on the other side of the clearing provided the perfect backdrop for some target shooting. It was perfect as I was in need of a little target shooting of a rifle I purchased back in Nevada, and then we had this beautiful place to spend the night after.

But first, let me pick up all the trash the locals left behind! Seriously, what is wrong with people? A beautiful and natural place, great for target shooting (as it should be), but they leave all their shotgun shells all over the place! Incredible. I spent a half hour picking up as much as I could, including a few pounds of spent brass worth a few bucks per pound… idiots. Finally, I got to set up and take my 20-shots that I needed to sight in the new rifle before packing it all back away and enjoying a splendid sunset over the meadow as the wind made the grass dance. And yea, I picked up my spent casings.

Definitely one of my most favorite places in California, more because it was exactly what I needed at the time. Kerri and I are often still surprised that we stumble onto these amazing spots out in the middle of no-where. Not because we don’t try, just that get lucky enough to find them so often.