Pushing it...

On our way out of Susanville, CA we stopped off at a Starbucks for a quick breakfast, then headed west on the 36W through the Lassen National Forest.

We got to Mineral, CA and then had a quick pit stop and we were going to fill up our tank. Seems like the only gas station was closed and the closest gas station was 40 miles east (so in essence we had to back track), or 40 miles farther west in Red Bluff, CA . We contemplated calling AAA, and we also contemplated just taking our chances and driving as far as our tank would take us. We only had 15 miles worth of diesel left, so it was a tough decision. And being the crazy risk takers we are, we thought we'd take our chances and just pop the car into neutral whenever we could coast downhill. This was also a particularly hilly path between Mineral and Red Bluff, but we somehow managed all 40 miles with our car still showing that we still had 15 miles left on our tank!

After topping up the tank, we continued zig-zagging our way on the 36W and came across this amazing little swimming hole near Forest Glen. Turns out it was a great little secret spot you had to climb down to, and we came across about 10 more people heading down there with coolers and a keg. We had a great afternoon of swimming and lounging before we headed off to find a campsite for the night. Settled in at the Bailey Canyon campground (site #18 was the best), and we had some lunch and an ice cream treat that Jer picked up before we had took another dip in Ruth Lake.

It was getting dark quickly, so we set up camp, then we played some cards and had some beers before making our dinner and spent the night by the campfire.

Today was by far one of our top 5 days ever.