High country barnsHigh country barns

The diversity of landscape and scenic vistas is almost endless in the northeast corner of California.

Lassen County, Calif. sits at the junction of where the northern Sierra and Cascade Mountains meet. A rain shadow on the western edge of the county creates well-defined contrast between timber and sage brush that marks a land of high quality alfalfa, nursery crops and ubundance of grazing land for cow-calf producers. It's also home to a number of old barns that serve as a skyline of sorts above the irrigated pastures.

Several old barns near the town of Susanville augment the scenic byways on and off the beaten path often missed by travelers traversing the volcanic tablelands that include the Modoc Plateau and unobstructed vistas of the two southernmost Cascade volcanoes: Lassen and Shasta.