16 March 2007
I didn't actually have any pictures from the drive through either Washington or Oregon heading north, and the same holds true for the return southbound trip. So the first pictures on the return leg are, again, from the Shasta River region in northern California.
This has to be the most spectacular view of Mt. Shasta that I got for the entire trip. There was a little pull-off and parking area just off the interstate and up a slight rise. Eastward was mainly open plains and a few hills, offering a great view of Mt. Shasta.
This was the part of the trip that I really got a feel for the sheer triangular nature of the western mountains. Last summer, when I went through the Rockies west of Denver, I got a feel for the young, jagged mountains of the west, but there I was driving directly through them, so what I mostly got a feel for was the sharp curves, abrupt drop-offs, and the craggy nature of the rock. But out here, up in the Shasta Cascades region, I got to see mountains rise at sharp angles from relatively flat land around them.
17 March 2007
These pictures can only convey a small portion of the sense of vast open space in this part of the country. Again this was a little pull-off parking lot, only this time it was up at the top of a rather steep hill. As a result, you could see the open plains of the San Joaquin valley stretching for mile upon mile.
©2007 by Peter Eichman. All rights reserved.