Day 37: To Harris Spring campground

August 15, 2009

Today was a boring mostly uphill day. Overnight the temperature got down to 48F. Cool for this relatively low elevation. I got on the road at 9:15 after stops at the camp store and information center. The bike was fully loaded with food because my next grocery store is 3 days down the road.

After leaving Burney Falls state park the road descends to cross Lake Britton at 2800 feet elevation. This is the lowest point between Lassen volcano and Medicine Lake volcano.

Lake Britton, a reservoir on the Pit River. The lowest point between Lassen volcano and Medicine Lake volcano.

Then highway 89 climbs steadily to a 4500-foot summit. The weather was sunny, but definitely not hot. I'm getting into the Pacific Northwest now.

View of the southern Cascades from a hilltop on highway 89.

For about 10 miles the road is perfectly straight and aiming directly towards 14,179-foot Mt. Shasta.

Heading towards 14,179-foot Mt. Shasta on highway 89. It's a dormant volcano that last erupted in 1786.

Usually I had a partial view of Mt. Shasta through the trees.

After the summit s a 500 foot descent to the turnoff for Harris Springs Road (Forest Road 15). I went half a mile past the intersection to have lunch at the Bartle Cafe. It's shown as a town on my atlas, but the only building there is the cafe/bar. After lunch I backtracked half a mile and turned north on Forest Road 15. It's signed the Modoc Volcanic Scenic Byway. But it's not extremely scenic because trees obstruct the mountain views most of the time.

Forest Road 15 in Shasta-Trinity National Forest. Climbing towards Medicine Lake volcano.

Forest Road 15 climbs steadily through the forest. There was no traffic. That's nice, but the constant uphill through the trees was rather boring. After 15 miles I turned right on a gravel road towards Harris Spring campground. The campground was hard to find because I had to make another turn on an unsigned road.

One of the few views of Mt. Shasta from Forest Road 15.

The campground was a disappointment, mostly because the water system was shut off. Fortunately a few other parties were camped there and an RVer filled my water bottles. But there definitely wasn't enough water for me to make a shower. I arrived at 4:15PM, so after a boring ride I spent a boring evening at the campground. I walked in the surrounding forest and found the huge concrete water tank for the water system that's shut off. Bees were very active around the campground but they never stung me. The campground has no host and there is no fee. That's good because I refuse to pay for a campground that doesn't have water. The other parties were there for deer bow hunting.

Today's ride was mostly uphill. The high temperature was 80F. Still a bit cooler than normal. The weather was nice but overall I would rate this as one of the least interesting days of the tour.

Distance: 43.8 mi (70 km)

Climbing: 3250 ft 985 m)

Average speed: 8.1 mph (13 km/h)

Max speed: 38.5 mph (62 km/h)

Today's ride: 44 miles (71 km)
Total: 1,594 miles (2,565 km)

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