The Rest of the Story

While Paul and Pete tested their tenacity against Lassen Peak, Amy and James and Kristin (Pete's wife) had their own adventure hiking around Manzanita Lake. (For all you gringos out there, "manzanita" means "little apple," which has nothing to do with the flavor of the lake or the kind of trees that surround it.) James spent the whole time demonstrating his latest trick, pointing. He pointed at birds and water and rocks and trees and sticks and flowers and dirt and, most notably, a bleached out fallen tree that looked like something from a modern sculpture museum.

Later, after Paul had recovered somewhat from his post-Lassen delirium, we made a short jaunt up to Burney Falls State Park. (Said Paul, "Six dollars closer to paying for our State Parks Pass.") While the falls were enchantingly lovely, park literature claims that Teddy Roosevelt declared them the "eighth wonder of the world," making us wonder whether he'd seen the first seven.