Beer, Hiking and Disc Golf in Chico, CA

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale has long been a go-to favorite for Hans so it was only logical for us to route through Chico, CA on our way to the east side of the Sierra Nevada range. We arrived to Almond Tree RV Park in Chico at noon with plenty of time to set up camp and relax at bit before our 3pm tour of the brewery. The tours are popular so reservations are a good idea.

Sierra Nevada Brewing is the third largest craft brewer and seventh largest brewing company in the US. Solely owned by one person, Ken Grossman, the plant is a model of sustainability and was named Green Business of the Year by the EPA in 2010. They have the largest privately owned solar array in the country, and they are installing several Tesla batteries to harness the energy produced during down times (the weekends) for use during the week.

We've been on numerous brewery tours and the brewing process is similar at every company, so the interesting part of the tour for us is to learn the history of the company and enjoy the free tastings. The brewery was founded in 1979, long before the craft beer phenomenon took off, and had a lot of growing pains along the way, including the bargain purchase of a 100 barrel brewhouse from Germany that cost 10 times more to ship to the US putting the fledgling company into serious debt.

This was a great tour, with a healthy amount of free tastings included. We started off with a sample of the flagship Sierra Nevada Pale Ale and ended the tour with tastes of seven additional brews. Afterwards we had a tasty pizza and salad at the onsite restaurant which had an extensive tap list with many that are available nowhere else including the one we shared, Ezo IPA, brewed with Asian hops with flavors of coconut, lime and lemongrass.

Goofing around in the hop room.

These small brew kettles are filled with experimental beers, most never make it to the public.

The brews we tasted are listed on the left, that 10.4% ABV Narwhal was tasty but potent!

Bidwell Park is the crown jewel of Chico. Established in 1905, it is currently more than 3,600 acres, over 11 miles long, and is the 25th largest city park in the US. Lower Bidwell Park is in the heart of the city and includes miles of paved trail and green parks and playgrounds. Big Chico Creek connects Lower to Upper Bidwell Park which has a golf course and disc golf course, swimming holes and many miles of gravel and natural trails on multiple levels up a canyon NE of town.

Chico is situated in the fertile Sacramento River Valley, nestled against the foothills of the Cascade range to the north and the Sierra Nevada range to the south. Upper Bidwell Park follows a canyon formed by millions of years of volcanic activity and Big Chico Creek cuts through the Lovejoy Basalt flow which originated from a volcano near what is now Susanville, about 100 miles NW of Chico.

We hiked an awesome 9 mile loop in Upper Bidwell that featured fantastic views into Big Chico Canyon from the north rim plus incredible close up views of the Lovejoy Basalt flow and Big Chico Creek. The sparsely treed gray pine and oak savannahs we walked through were an interesting change from our deep green summer in Oregon and we read that the wildflower displays in the spring are not to be missed.

We parked in the valley below and immediately climbed to the top of the ridge,
then continued along the basalt rim overlooking the canyon.
Big Chico Creek flows through the narrow, dark line at the bottom of the valley.

We saw dozens of vultures flying across the valley, more than we've ever seen anywhere in our travels.
This fine specimen was thoroughly enjoying the very warm morning sun (approaching 80 degrees).

After about four miles on the ridge top we dropped down to the valley and took the Yahi trail overlooking Big Chico Creek.
Dramatic basalt formations lined the sides of the creek bed.

We loved the oak studded golden grass covered savannah, so different from the deep green forests of our summer.

Though relatively flat and easy, the Yahi trail was quite rough due to the chunky basalt underfoot.
Rounded humps of basalt became more prominent as we continued down canyon. 

A turn in the creek bed provided a stunning view into the channel cut by Big Chico Creek.

Looking up at the ridge we had traveled earlier.

Big Chico Creek looks inviting for swimming in this hot summer climate,
but access is severely limited in the upper reaches of the canyon.

The last mile or so of trail brought us down to the water level and we saw a lot of beautiful swimming holes
that are probably packed with locals on summer weekends.
This area seems to have been developed a long time ago for water distribution.

Midday sun bounces off giant basalt boulders as Big Chico Creek makes its way through this unique landscape.

Once through the rough basalt canyon, Big Chico Creek has some family friendly swimming holes too.

The next day we drove up the south side of Bidwell Park to Peregrine Point Disc Golf Course. The course plays across a mesa overlooking Big Chico Canyon, with some tees and holes very close to the canyon rim...I skipped a few holes because with my erratic throws it's quite easy for me to lose a disc in this kind of terrain!

The course plays across the same kind of terrain that we hiked the previous day.

We got an early start because the day would get to 90 degrees so photos were challenging.
Here Hans is throwing right on the canyon edge; the opposite canyon rim is where we hiked the day before.

See tiny Hans on the right? He is throwing towards the point I am shooting from.
This is one of the shots I decided to pass on.

Big Chico Creek is hidden in the shadows at the bottom of the canyon.

I played the holes that looked like this!
We really enjoyed this course, it would be difficult to lose a disc in this setting.

Chico turned out to be a fun stop. Along with the adventures described above, we enjoyed walking CSU Chico campus and the adjacent vibrant downtown area. Lower Bidwell Park was also a pretty place to walk, the paved trail is shady and inviting with a variety of massive old trees.

From here we moved east into the mountains and California's gold country...and a fire zone!

A Few Days in Ukiah, CA

It was a curvy 130 mile drive from Fortuna, CA to Ukiah, CA...sorry Rosie...poor cat has a hard time with winding roads. We spent four nights at the Redwood Empire Fair RV Park, a no frills park with gravel roads and sites and a fair amount of road noise, no real redeeming factors, just a convenient place to stay when in Ukiah.

The RV park is on the fairgrounds and happened to have stock car races during our stay so rather than just endure the noise we went to the races on Saturday night. We also enjoyed a couple of dinners with an old friend from San Diego, Titi and her mother Amanda, who happen to live nearby.

We've had a dramatic change of scenery now that we've moved south of the redwoods. Ukiah sits at the north end of the Northern California wine growing region and any land that isn't covered in grapes is now rolling hills of golden grasses dotted with giant old oaks and madrone forests.

Mendocino Lake sits just north of Ukiah and has disc golf courses at both ends of the lake as well as several miles of hiking trails. We played the South Mendocino Lake disc golf course and found it to be a very challenging course. Lots of steep hills and a few drop offs where it was easy to lose a disc...and the trees! There were a LOT of trees!

Lots and lots of trees on this disc golf course!

Nice views from this hillside basket.

 
After disc golf we took a nice four mile hike along Mendocino Lake. The Shakota Trail wanders up and down along the contours of the lake through mixed forest with occasional views of the lake.

Great views of Mendocino Lake from the Shakota Trail.

Montgomery Woods State Natural Reserve lies about 15 steep, curvy miles west of Ukiah...thank goodness we did not bring Rosie on this drive! In fact, you would not want to drive any kind of RV on this road.

The Reserve protects five groves of redwoods that have never been logged and is far from any major roads or development so is a very peaceful setting. It is just down the road from Orr Hot Springs Resort so it is pretty popular despite it's distance from any towns. There are only a couple of miles of trails but we were able to extend our walk further into the canyon for a total of about four miles.

It is so hard to photograph these magnificent trees,
but I think the base of this one gives a pretty good idea of the grand scale of this giant!

 

We happened upon a group of about half a dozen rough-skinned newts!

Don't touch! The orange underbelly is a warning of the toxin they secrete.

 

Gorgeous views from the road to Montgomery Woods.

On our last day we hiked a few miles in nearby Low Gap Park, where we saw a large flock of turkeys sauntering up the mountainside.

Turkey on the trail in Low Gap Park.

With more rain in our future, today we've moved on down to Calistoga for a few nights...another curvy drive that was hard on our girl. Rosie will be really happy when we finally get out of Northern California...

Champoeg State Park, A Beauty on the Outskirts of Portland

We've just completed a wonderful four night stay at a new-to-us park: Champoeg State Park.  Like so many Oregon State Parks, Champoeg is beautiful, well run and has lots of things to do. I wish we could extend our stay, but when Hans made our reservations way back in March he could only get four weeknights in a row; this park is popular with good reason. Details on the park are at the end of this post.

Our first day we needed to run an errand in the south end of Portland, only about 30 miles away, so we planned a couple of fun stops en route. First a nice loop hike at Tryon Creek State Park near Lake Oswego.

Hans chose to blend in on this day...see him?

Like so many hikes in NW Oregon this one was in a forest...perfect for a hot summer day.

Our next stop was the lovely Elk Rock Garden at Bishops Close. The garden was originally created by the Kerr family in the early 1900's and given to the Episcopal Church in 1957 with the stipulation that it be open to the public.

The property is perched on the cliff above the Willamette River, just visible through the trees on the right.

Moss covered stones line the paths with peek-a-boo views of the river below.

Daytime stars.

Another day we drove a loop through the beautiful country surrounding Champoeg. Dozens of wineries are accessible from just about any road in the Willamette Valley, agricultural fields give way to forested hilltops, and charming small towns pop up every few miles.

Just a few miles outside of McMinnville is Miller Woods, a conservation area owned by Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District. We hiked a pretty 3.5 mile loop with a little bit of everything: wildlife, meadows, forest and a pond.

Great Horned Owl.

Small creeks flowed through lush forest.

Sun shafts in deep forest.

I happened to look up as we lunched under this beautiful old oak tree and fell in love with the view!

Later, on a walk in McMinnville, this frog was reminiscent of the one I'd just seen at Miller Pond.

 Campground Review

Champoeg State Park lives up to its excellent reviews. Roads and sites are paved. Each site has a picnic table and fire ring. Most sites have excellent separation as well as privacy bushes between the sites. There are eight full hookup sites, over 67 water/electric sites, plus tent sites and cabins and yurts. There are many very large/long sites, especially in Loop B.

The park is located along the Willamette River and boasts several miles of hiking and biking trails, river access, disc golf course, a unique playground, and a visitor center dedicated to the history of the area.  Lady Hill Winery right across the street from the park has some lovely wines as well!

Champoeg is an important part of Oregon's history.

We had back in, full hookup site #B25.
We had thick bushes between us and our neighbors on both sides...excellent privacy.
Also decent afternoon shade in our patio area.

Right behind our site was a path to the central restroom and this beautiful open field
with views to the forested hills beyond the park.

A long pull through site directly across from us.

You can boat in to this park and dock your boat for up to 72 hours.
There are camp sites for boaters at the top of the ramp.
Note the small sign near the top of the second post...that was the high water line during the February 1996 flood!
There was an even higher flood in 1861!!!
Fortunately the park lies a good 30 feet or more above the current water line.

Paved bike path through a meadow. Most of the trails are through forest.

We really enjoyed the disc golf course.
Though there are plenty of trees, there is very little undergrowth in which to lose discs!
Make sure you take a photo of the course layout at the start kiosk, it can be difficult to locate the next tee sometimes.

Baby acorn woodpecker...

...getting fed!

We'd definitely stay at Champoeg State Park again.