Every adventure tells a story, and this one felt like crossing eras of the Earth itself, deep into the Cascade Range. This is where ancient forces shaped the mountains of the Pacific Northwest, from the fossilized remains of ancient worlds to the fiery hearts of volcanic peaks like Mt Hood and Mt Shasta. The Cascade Range reveals the living geology of our planet.
Our journey wound from Idaho through Oregon to California, tracing the geologic story of the West. Along the way, we earned badges, made our dog a Bark Ranger, and found our way home. In the process, we gathered a deeper sense of how both people and landscapes remember, with their histories are written in stone, ash, and sparkling black glass across the Cascade Range.
City of Rocks National Reserve (Idaho)
Leaving Pocatello, we headed for a place that feels like another planet. City of Rocks National Reserve rises out of the sagebrush like a natural fortress, with spires, pinnacles, and ancient granite walls. Here, even pups can get in on the fun with the Bark Ranger program, reminding us that every member of the family can help protect the park. Walking among the rock formations, it’s easy to imagine travelers of the past carving their names into history, just as wind and water have carved the stone itself for millennia.
Twin Falls and the Journey West
Our path westward carried us through Twin Falls, where the Snake River Canyon opens wide and Shoshone Falls roars. It was a reminder that water is just as powerful a sculptor as fire. We didn’t collect a badge here, but standing at the overlook felt like earning one in wonder.
John Day Fossil Beds National Monument (Oregon)
If City of Rocks showed us the Earth’s solid bones, John Day Fossil Beds National Monument revealed its memory. Layer after layer of painted hills tells the story of ancient climates and vanished species, a rainbow written in rock. The Junior Ranger program here brings prehistory alive, inviting all to see how landscapes evolve. The rolling colors of the hills glowed under the spring sun, and we learned that time itself leaves fingerprints in stone.
Trillium Lake & Mt. Hood National Forest (Oregon)
As we climbed toward Mt. Hood, the air cooled and the forests deepened. Trillium Lake felt like a scene from a storybook, still and mirrored, ringed with firs that smelled of rain and pine. The white trillium flowers were in bloom, glowing against the green understory. The reflection of Mount Hood on the glassy water made it seem as if we had stepped into a dream.
The Coastline (Oregon & California)
From the forests around Mt Hood, we followed the rivers west to Bandon and Brookings, where the sea meets the sky in endless motion. Southward we traveled to Santa Cruz, tracing the rhythm of the Pacific before turning inland once more toward Modoc National Forest. Each tide, each badge, each horizon felt like another page in the Earth’s story, one still being written by waves, wind, and wonder.
Modoc National Forest (California)
From the emerald slopes of Oregon, we continued south to the mighty Mt. Shasta, another sentinel of fire and snow. In the Modoc National Forest, our final adventure took us to gather obsidian, that glassy remnant of ancient lava flows. With a legal permit from the Forest Service office in Tulelake, we collected small, shimmering pieces that caught the sunlight like captured magic.
Mount Shasta
Then, to Mount Shasta, in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest, home. where Vata and Pitta’s Heart rests before the mountain’s radiant presence, the journey felt complete. The mountain rises like a dream, timeless and alive, its slopes holding the memory of all we have loved. Our best van kitties are here, they are everywhere. In all the whispers of wind through the pines, in the stillness that feels like earth’s heartbeat.
Forever alive in Spirit, watching over every dawn and every star that crowns Mount Shasta’s peak, and all Nature in the Universe.
