We wanted to get away. Someplace that we had never seen that has hiking trails that allow dogs on trails and interesting topography. Since this was a spontaneous trip, we needed to find a campground that would not be busy this time of year--someplace quiet. Black Butte Lake was our answer.
The scenery from the butte that we climbed provided us with not only a spectacular view of the campground and lake, but also wonderful scenes of the mountain ranges to the west and north.
With keen eyes, one was able to spot snow cover Mt. Shasta and Lassen too!
Since we started our hike later in the day than we had planned, we had to leave the trail that meanders the coves and instead hike across the dried up inlets to make it up the butte and back before sunset.
There were many volcanic outcropping of rocks. One had to watch their step since the grasses cover the smaller rocks making the trek up harder, but the hike to the top was well worth the climb.
The U.S. Army of Corps of Engineers completed the dam in 1963 to protected towns from flooding. The Stony Creek flows from Snow Mountain into the lake.
After taking in the views, we headed back down to explore the campground before the sun went down.
Our dog remembered our route; so, she navigated us back down the butte.
Back at the campground, we reveled in our hike up the butte.
A herd of deer munching on the grasses thought they could hide from us. This group that looks frozen in place gave on the appearance of being plastic statues like the type that can be seen decorating front lawns during the Christmas holiday season.
We had a private area to ourself since the other four campers were at the other end of the campground.
We settled in for our cocktail/appetizer hour with a beautiful view of the lake.
Next morning, we awoke to a very cold morning with what looked like snow clouds. It was such a contrast from the prior day's hike of sunshine and warmth.
Hunters could be heard shooting; hunting is allowed across the lake. Poor doggie, her tail was down, and she wasn't a happy camper due to the sounds of gunshots.
Bundled up, we took a short hike on the trails near our site. Doggie still wasn't happy with the sound of gunshots heard from across the lake.
During our morning stroll through the campground, we discovered the amphitheater. The Scrub Jays were using one of the posts to store their winter stash of acorns-- Eeks trypophobia!
We enjoyed our stay so much that this COE campground is now on our winter list of places to camp.
