THERE AR PLENTY OF THINGS TO FILL IN THE SPACES WHERE THERE AREN'T ANY STOPLIGHTS...

Like four of a kind there ain’t much can beat a western weekend.  And like all really good western weekends this one involved a couple of beautiful gals, a pickup truck and a tailgate full of mixed breed dogs.  We, the two legged trio, were all recently rehabbed from chest colds and the mutts, like good dogs everywhere, couldn’t believe their luck in being chosen to ride along.  Now the ground rules for a good western weekend are painfully simple… start time must be in a window no smaller than, oh, say, four hours.  The majority of the drive time must be on unpaved roadbeds.  You have to have, at the very least, a minimum of two destinations, any or all of which are expendable and, even though you need to have something you really should be doing instead, you can’t have a set time you need to be back amongst the civilized folks.  Extra credit for having coffee and doughnuts for breakfast and for bringing beers.

This adventure was based on hitting the high points of Plumas County; specifically the lookouts on Mount Hough and Argentine Rock and we made it to both with hours to spare.  The views from both were, of course, no less than spectacular and it was fun to stand at the edge of the world on Mount Hough and look down with an Olympian eye upon Crystal Lake, Indian Valley, Taylorsville and, on the far horizon, Mt. Lassen.  Okay, everybody back in the truck, down to Chandler Road then along 70 east with a left hand turn across from Williams Loop.  Along Squirrel Creek for a few miles to a fork in the road… always taking the one that goes uphill the most.  Slow down (and integral part of a western weekend…) and then turn left at Brady Camp campground. You then proceed up a narrow, bumpy track through pines and Manzanita ‘til the road runs out.  Stop. Get out.  Crack a brewski and yank your hat on a little tighter ‘cuz I’m guessing the wind blows through there pretty much all the time.  You can see the abandoned watchtower up along the skyline and all you have to do is locate the lovely hand laid stone stairway (most likely a WPA or CCC work project…) that winds its way up through the brush to what is left of the lookout. There is enough of a walkway along the side and front of the building to let you get a windblown view of pretty much everything between Mt. Lassen and the Sierra Buttes in Lakes Basin.

Now I’ve gotten shit before and will probably get it again for this, but interesting as the aforementioned vista is, that’s all it is to me is interesting.  Good for a sense of place and a game of name that peak… hummm.  Now, if you want beauty just walk back around to the top of the stairs and cast about for the stunning views of the crescent tor that is Argentine Rock.  From the back of the lookout you can see down and across several high alpine meadows, covered in low manzanita, deerbrush and the occasional evergreen.  These meadows are surrounded by and interrupted by upthrusts of basalt; fractured, worn, the color of an old bruise and speckled with white and pale yellow-green lichens.  These are magnificent old geezers who are keepers of the secrets known only to themselves and the lives they harbor… now that is what a real, jim-dandy western weekend is all about.  Getting yourself right up next to a place where you come in second place if you’re lucky.

Alright. Water those dogs and load ‘em up.  Back to town for a burger and fries and a tip of the metaphorical ten gallon hat to Michelle, Lovely, Sally O’Malley, Pepe and Chuck.