Day 42 - Lakes and Mountains - Oh My!

Lassen Volcanic takes starry nights seriously and strives to keep man-made light to a minimum. It pays off!  I woke up in the middle of the night and considered staying outside for a long time just to watch the stars rotate around the sky.  It was also just SO quiet - no wildlife, no people, just no sound.  Apparently the lack of sound worked for all of us because we didn’t start the day until after 8:00!  Once we were up, we had breakfast (back to oatmeal and grits) and started to pack up our camp.  While Amy was concerned that we only had one day in Lassen, I think we all agreed that we saw what we needed to in one day and were ready to move on.

Since we had the time and knew we wouldn’t be able to check in at our Mt. Shasta location early, we decided to spend our morning renting kayaks and paddling around on Manzanita Lake.  The water was incredibly calm and so clear.  We could see to the bottom in many spots despite it being well over 15 feet deep in points.  While it took a while, we also were able to spot a few lake fish swimming around in the shallows.  I tried to get the boys to try fishing, but they were not interested. Probably just as well - we didn’t have the right gear for what I suspect were trout.

After the kayak tour, the boys got another treat with some ice cream while I packed up the camp.  We piled into the car and started for Mt Shasta.  However, along the way, we stopped at what i would consider a unique opportunity - hiking through lava tubes at Subway Cave.  While the boys didn’t want to at first, they quickly decided that hiking in the cave was pretty neat, if scary at first.  The temperature difference within a few feet was startling - it must have been at least 15 degrees cooler just a few feet into the cavern and was a nice break from the heat.

After leaving the caves, we stopped at the car and had a lunch of pancakes/bagels and peanut butter sandwiches complimented with the fresh fruit.  Not a bad picnic if you ask me.  

The rest of the drive to Mt Shasta was pretty uneventful - even finishing with a short stint on I-5 before getting to camp.  Mt Shasta stands out as a massive mountain with no other peaks around it so much of the drive was spent marveling at the beauty of Mt. Shasta as it seemed to grow as we approached. 

Eventually we drove through the quaint town of Mt. Shasta and got to camp.  It was a KOA spot which usually meant electric/water, but in this case we were put out at the edge of camp without any hookups.  Normally, this is fine with us, but with temperatures expected to soar tomorrow, we decided to spend some time finding a replacement for tomorrow night.  Thankfully we were able to find a spot on our way to Crater Lake that offered full hookups so we’re going to leave tomorrow and escape the heat in a place we can run the A/C.

While we were at camp, we made the most of it.  The boys immediately explored the pool and then after they had turned into prunes, we got them out and they discovered the incredible amount of backyard games this KOA had to offer.  They tried everything there was on offer including horseshoes, Frisbee, shuffleboard, volleyball, badminton, and croquet.  And while they enjoyed, we got the laundry done. As a reward for the heat and fun of the day, they also enjoyed some ice cream.

As evening fell, we enjoyed another dinner and some shows allowing the temperatures to fall.  By the time we went to bed it was just under 80 degrees but felt nice enough to sleep (without the A/C since we had no electricity to run it!).  Despite not having the most full day, we all were tired.

Miles Traveled - 6,675 miles

# States/Provinces visited - 14