Kiama's Charm - no12

Leaving Lake Oroville we picked up Highway 5 until Weed where we took a more scenic drive via US Route 97.  Just about 20 miles north of Weed we stopped at the Grass Lake Rest Area.

A beautiful spot with the most amazing views of a 'lake' of soft moving grass in various colours, but
no water in sight. Although historically there was an actual lake, it is now a wet meadow.

Apparently  the water drained away in the early 20th century through a development effort, which broke the seal of the underlying lava rocks, locals call it 'The Glory Hole'.

The area was populated with the most adorable looking chipmunks. John and I had never seen them before and we couldn't get enough of watching their antics. They were very curious and came up quite close to us. I wished we could take one home for Ilana, our eldest daughter, who loves cute looking little animals.

There was a very good information display about the geology, flora and fauna of the area. A rare species of the Tiger Salamander was only discovered at the end of the 60's when hundreds of them  were crossing the road. They get up to 10 inches long.

Kiama loved little lizards and because the salamander looks like a lizard I decided to hang one of the charms next to the information panel.