Sometime during the night while camped at Bunny Flat on Mt. Shasta, I could smell smoke. When I got up the skies were hazy and the smell of smoke hung in the air, even at 7000’. I made breakfast and packed up, and while on the down hill there was a distinct layer….the smoke was confined to about 6000’ and above. The tides had turned, my lofty respite from the haze these past two days was now invaded. I gassed up and headed north with an open night; I was thinking the Fremont-Winema National Forest for dispersed camping, then continuing on to my two nights already reserved at Crater Lake. I quite enjoyed Highway 97 with its long straight expanses and, although hovering at elevations around 5000’, not high enough to get into the smoke layer. With no time commitments I was just tooling along and saw a sign for the Lava Beds National Monument and made a spur of the moment decision to go there. The bonus of the day, however, was passing the Klamath National Wildlife Refuge. So much fowl! This looked like a huge expanse of marsh and open water with thousands of birds. I stopped and broke out my telephoto, trying to capture some aerial follies. After a bit I continued on to Lava Beds and checked into the visitor center to get my cave pass. I made sure I only entered caves that were empty at the time….no sense being underground in a confined space with other people during Covid. Turns out there are more caves here than anywhere in the US, so I sampled a few then continued out of the park, stopping to take in the vast expanse of the lava fields. What a remarkable place! Sure glad I stopped, but I figure I can go where I please at the moment….Freedom!

*One of the caves in Lava Bed National Monument*