Day 41 - Bringing Amy, the lass, en the volcano - Lassen Volcanic

As always, everybody slept well with the white noise and cooled air of the air conditioner.  Having access again to electricity, we decided to do another pancake breakfast. 



Once it was over we let the boys finish Oceans 11 while Amy and I started the pack up process.  The movie finished and the boys decided to go and do some more foraging for blackberries while Amy and I finished getting camp packed up.  With nothing more to do since we didn’t have a boat, we hit the road pretty early and headed for Lassen Volcanic.

We headed north from camp and arrived fairly soon at Lassen Volcanic.  However, there is NO way the map will be accurate.  We came into the park on some very narrow, winding, and STEEP roads.  With a long pop up trailer, it was a fairly exciting drive.  But enough people apparently made it to camp because it was a big camp and it was FULL.  The campsite was on Manzanita Lake and it was stunning to see it with the snow covered mountains in the background.  We opted to get the camper set up and because we had extra time we did the 30 mile drive through the park.


This park, while spread out, has a LOT that can be seen from the car.  We started with a gigantic piece of rock that had apparently been blasted out of the volcano during the blast in the early 1900s.  Apparently an artist found it the next day and reported it was still warm.  I have to admit, if I was around a volcanic eruption, I don’t think I would be around the next day….I’d be heading AWAY from the volcano.





Our next stop was at the trail head for the climb to Lassen Peak.  We had been advised that this would be a hike we could do, but when we pulled up, we found 8 foot of snow still at the start of the trail.  Needless to say, we did NOT have the gear for a hike that STARTED with 8 foot deep snow at the bottom.  Still, the boys were thrilled with the opportunity to play in the snow so we spent our time doing that.  




After playing in the snow, we continued down the road and found a lake that was still full of ice and had the glacier water color to it.  It’s magnificent to see - such a unique blue color! 





We then stopped for a quick picture at the visitor center and then started our backtracked back to camp for dinner, but not before a stop at the mud pits!   If you have to do a 30 mile drive, there are worse roads out there for scenery!





We finished back at camp with a great day done! While it would have been great to hike to the top of Lassen, I guess we have a reason to return.




Miles traveled - 6,576

# States/Provinces - 14

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