Lassen National Park After Dixie – Week Two. We learned the road to the Butte Lake area (off Hwy 44 on the east side of the park) was open to vehicles, so we headed over.
Photo by Liz Merry
Trail to the scenic overlook – Liz Merry
View from the top – Liz Merry
From the top of the butte there are steep switchbacks leading down the other side to the lakeshore trail which were intersected and blocked by an enormous downed tree with big intact branches. We had to scramble up and around where it had broken off at the base and slide, crawl, and pick our way down the steep and slippery “wall of sand and rock”. Not fun.
Detour tree – photo by Aaron Standish
Once at lake level, there were many blowdowns to go over or around as we walked down the eastern shore. The lake was low and burned trees don’t offer much shade.
Photo by Aaron Standish
Photo by Aaron Standish
On the way back we took the other part of the loop and it had been incinerated. The trail was no longer clear and most of the trees that had hosted trail markers were gone. Without the lake as a point of reference, a couple steps off-course could compound and leave a hapless hiker far from her intended destination – the ice-cold beers in the car.
Photo by Liz Merry
Fortunately, there’s an app for that. The National Park Service has a free user-friendly app I highly recommend. You can download any park for offline use, so even if you have no reception you can zoom in on a map and see exactly where you are. When the blue dot that represented my phone went off-trail, it was easy to correct before we got too far afield.
All in all, not the most fun day we’ve had in the park. But it could have been worse. And even the worst day hiking is better than the best day sitting on my butt at a Tehama County Supervisors meeting. So there’s that.
And speaking of local government, last week we talked about former Redding police investigator Josh Siipola being hired by the Red Buff Police Department.
Josh Siipola and Chief Kyle Sanders
Earlier this year, new Chief Administrator Gabriel Hydrick was called out for some unseemly social media posts he made while running for State Assembly in 2016. You remember 2016, right? Dog whistles were everywhere, trickling down from the national arena to the family dinner table. Hydrick made some racial and transphobic tweets and Tehama County Personnel never saw them before he was hired. The fact that nobody even googled him was astonishing.
Screenshot from Twitter
Happily, Hydrick has turned out to be a big improvement over his predecessor, Bill Goodwin. We “supies” have been watching him closely and so far he’s been terrific at his job. For example, Hydrick gave a powerpoint presentation last Tuesday on preparations for the upcoming budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2022-23. Sounds like a real snoozefest, right? Wrong. It was engaging and easy to follow with a sharp, simple, professional template explaining the goals and fresh ideas as opposed to incomprehensible spreadsheets showing the dire straits we’re in. There were even some funny little cartoons. This a clear departure from the same old tired way of doing things. The audience burst into applause when he was finished. I swear I am not making that up.
I am pleased to announce I was wrong about Gabriel Hydrick. We may not have the same personal views on any number of social issues – in fact, I know we don’t. But he is a smart, capable, outside the box thinker who has already helped Tehama County move into the future and we are lucky to have him.
As for Red Bluff PD – it seems Josh Siipola was properly vetted and RBPD is just fine with what he did. What did he do? I refer you once again to award-winning journalist RV Scheide’s investigative report.
Move on, folks. Nothing to see here. And plenty to see elsewhere. 2022 will go down as the ugliest, most hostile Tehama County election cycle in decades. Even though June 7 is just the primary, all our local races will be decided on that day because no more than 2 people are running for any office. With only a week to go, mud is flying and dirty tricks are afoot.
Who ever heard of a hotly contested Auditor-Controller race? I almost fell asleep just typing it. Current District 2 Supervisor Candy Carlson is vying for the seat of retiring A/C LeRoy Anderson against current Assistant Auditor Krista Peterson, who has the endorsement of her boss and fellow county bean counters, which is not surprising at all.
Candy Carlson
Krista Peterson and supporters at the Tehama District Fair
LeRoy Anderson – Tehama County website
Carlson has been complaining about the way finances are handled and reported out for as long as I have been attending supervisor meetings – which is almost 5 years. Every time there’s a quarterly report, budget recommendations or votes to adopt, she has spoken up about the unsustainability of our spending habits. The fact that we have bridged the budget gap with Emergency Reserves has reduced the county’s credit rating from A+ to A-, which in turn costs us more in interest. Last year we used CARES Act funding to balance the budget, but we’re not going to be lucky enough to have a global pandemic every year (insert eye roll emoji).
Back on May 6, a letter appeared in the Red Bluff Daily News from Theresia Sweeney, who works in the Tehama County District Attorney’s office. She made a big deal about Carlson working for the non-profit Women’s Health Specialists in Redding because they offer (gasp) abortion services among many other health care options. Oy vey. Mama’s got a brand new dog whistle.
Then, last week, a private investigator showed up at Women’s Health Specialists – where Carlson is Finance Director – asking employees questions about her. Yes, someone actually hired a PI to investigate Carlson at her freaking job. Absolutely unbelievable.
And the hits just keep on coming. The aforementioned current A-C LeRoy Anderson wrote a letter to the RBDN endorsing his second in command. He also emailed the Board of Supervisors demanding proof of allegations made in Carlson’s campaign about how his office conducts the business of the county, which she has already proven many times. In fact, the way they do our business is the reason for her candidacy.
Funny aside about LeRoy – I met with him in his office back in 2018 to learn how much money the county was losing through their cannabis prohibition scheme. Answer – a lot. I saw the nameplate on his desk with the capital R and said something like, “Oh! Your name is LeROY, not LEEroy.” He said, “Yes, it means the king.” “Um, yeah, I know – 4 years of high school French. Why do you pronounce it LEEroy? It’s pronounced LeRWAH.” (Rolled my R and everything.) “To fit in better around here.” “Good luck with that.” I’m paraphrasing, but it went something along those lines.
As the reigning “king”, it appears Anderson feels he should be able to crown his own successor once he abdicates the throne. He’s coming out hard and heavy and the A-C office has turned into Krista Peterson’s personal campaign headquarters. What will happen? Who knows? Carlson is well known and much loved in Tehama County, but there are those who are afraid that if she’s elected, there will be a lesser appointment as her replacement as D2 Supe. I was worried about that myself, until two very qualified people reached out to me in confidence to tell me they would be interested in pursuing that seat should Carlson win the A-C job.
It’s weird to see a local ballot of candidates running for nonpartisan offices that have organically settled into two distinct “parties”. You’re either with the “Good Ol’ Boys” – Peterson, Williams, Garton, and Parker, or you’re with the “People Looking Forward” – Carlson, Hansen, Nolen, and Kain. There must be some crossovers, of course, but it comes down to one choice, essentially. If you’re happy with things as they are and couldn’t care less if your neighbors’ wells go dry, vote GOB. If you’d like to move into this century, vote PLF.
Honestly, I can’t wait until the whole damn thing is over.
