Hiking @ Table Mountain, Oroville, California

Wild flowers, waterfall, hiking, fly a kite, bring along a picnic. What a day to experience Gods Beauty! It is a couple of days since a deluge of rain, the sun is shining and Gary and I are climbing out of our car, ready for the first outing of the year.

We left the cabin at Magalia, drove south until our GPS (we call her Gabby) told us to turn onto a little windy, curvy mountain road as we searched for the boat ramp at the north end of Oroville Lake. NO, we didn't want to launch a boat, because we don't have one. However, at least three of our grown kids have boats and we think if we know where they can launch, perhaps they will come to visit us at the cabin and invite us out for a boat ride.

We were amazed at the beautiful wild flowers, dogwood & redbud trees in bloom all along the way. Then, suddenly, two deer ran across the road in front of us and we slowed down to let them pass. As we began to pick up a little speed the third deer appeared, jumped into the road--just as a motorcycle came round the turn going faster than he should have been--the deer came within about six inches of the front of the bike. I closed my eyes, expecting to see the cycle rider and deer both lying on the road. It was a very narrow miss! The cyclists eyes were as large as saucers as he braked and swirved to miss the deer.

Enough excitement!

On down the road we saw signs about a "Covered Bridge". As we drew close to the bridge we saw the name- The Oregon City Covered Bridge. Beautiful area. It really lends itself to photo shoots! Of course we had to stop and pose a few times!

We continued on in search of a place Gary had read about: Table Mountain. It is a flat area on top of the mountain covered with wild flowers at this time of year and being flat, it invites kite fliers to rush up to the top when the wind is blowing as hard as it is today.

As we watched the kiters we were asked by a fellow hiker is we had been down to see the waterfall and we replied,
" What waterfall? Where is it?" And the answer was, " Down there". So of course, not wanting to miss anything we began walking, "Down there".

It was an easy walk, sometimes stepping over lava rocks as the area is blessed with what was once a lava flow. The lava rocks spread out, leading our way to the waterfall below. I'm sorry to say we didn't walk all the way down to the "Big Fall" , however, we did arrive at a "smaller one" that was quite pretty.

I love hiking when the going is as easy as it is at Table Mountain--I am not real daring so don't care for the scarry ones. Everyone you meet along the path is friendly and you feel as though you are all sharing the adventure.

When we left the mountain "Gabby" (our GPS guide) told us where to turn to return to the Paradise/Magalia area and soon we were back in familiar territory--and hungry!

Izzy's Burgers was calling to us for lunch as we pulled into Paradise and we answered the call imediately, discovering that , in fact, Izzy's Burgers are as delicious as they advertise them to be! And the french fries and onion rings were fresh cut and fried just right.

Happy hiking! And if you have a favorite spot to climb, let us know about it.

When the day is drawing to a sunset close, head on back to Paradise and stop in at Annie's Country Cafe for dinner. There is outdoor dining on the patio or if the weather doesn't co-operate, grab a table inside. The food is great no matter where you eat it!