The spring of 2006 will be remembered as the never-ending winter with a record-setting string of rainy days for March and April.

So when the sun finally burst forth in the last week of April, Geno and Dick packed up Musubi and headed up the central valley to Lime Saddle State Park at Lake Oroville for three days of exploring the area by bike and boots.

Lime Saddle turned out to be a beautiful campground centrally located to Feather Falls, Table Mountain, and the Chico Wildflower Century route.

The first day was spent hiking on top of the mesa of Table Mountain, taking in the first bloom of spring wildflowers and discovering several unnamed waterfalls. Table Mountain, an expansive basalt lava plateau formed 50 million years ago from erupting volcanos, is well known as one of the best wildflower hotspots in Northern California.

On the second day, we rode 60 miles of the hilly and scenic portion of the Chico Wildflower route, taking in Honey Run Canyon and valleys around Table Mountain. With the mountains east of Chico/Oroville receiving more than 150" of rain, the rivers, creeks and streams flowing down the west slope of the Sierra were running high and fast. Butte Creek, which carves through Honey Run Canyon, looked more like a major river than a creek this spring.

The third day was a 10-mile round-trip hike to Feather Falls, an imposing 640' waterfall located near the east end of Lake Oroville where Fall River flows into the reservoir. Feather Falls is the sixth tallest waterfall in the U.S. and with the high spring run-off was especially spectacular and thunderous. Bob Caikoski, formerly of Sacramento and now retired and living in Chico, joined us on the day hike.