Lassen

I was able to take a day off from work last Friday so that we could go up to Lassen (full name: Lassen Volcanic National Park... more info here). We picked up Chris's brother Bill in Sacramento on Thursday evening and made our way to Mineral, which is a cute little town outside of the main park (and I mean little - population 90).

We got in to Mineral around 11pm, perhaps a little later. Bill had made a reservation for the three of us at the Mineral Lodge, a quiet little place with no TVs or phones in the room. It looks like a fun hang-out spot - there was a patio and a bar and general store all within the lodge area, but we got in too late to explore any of it.

I have a new found fear of motels/lodges - they might be the cutest, quaintest establishment in the world (and this one was pretty quaint), but I am convinced Javier Bardem is going to appear and kill me and Tommy Lee Jones won't get there soon enough to protect me. So yeah, cute place, but I was glad I wasn't staying there alone!

Chris getting settled in at the campsite

The next morning we got up around 8am, had a big breakfast at the restaurant and then headed towards Lassen. Not a long drive from Mineral, so we were there plenty early to pick out one of the good campsites. After setting up the campsite (and dealing with some tent issues), exploring the visitor's center briefly and then loading up on sunscreen and water, we set out for the Brokeoff Mountain trail head. Our plan was to climb Lassen Peak, but upon our arrival into the park, we saw a sign saying that the Lassen Peak trail was closed indefinitely. We went to the visitor's center to get the scoop - quite a tragic bit of news - a young boy was climbing with his family and was killed in a rock slide. The trail was closed for an investigation into the incident.

On the trail.

We set out on the hike about 11 or so, a bit later than is ideal (in my opinion) for hikes, but luckily there were a lot of trees and shade - at least at first. The climb was steady uphill the whole way, over 2000 feet of elevation gain in 3.5 miles. Maybe a mile from the top Chris went out on his own (Bill and I are not exactly in the same league as him...) I hate getting passed by others, and luckily it only happened twice, even though I consider that two too many times in my book.

After finally making it to the top and resting for a bit, we headed back down. We found a nice little swimming hole on the way up, so we had that to look forward to, and I was so excited when we got there! We relaxed there for 10 minutes or so, and then made it the rest of the way down.

Chris and Bill at the top of Brokeoff Mountain. Lassen Peak is visible in the background.

Sunburned and thirsty (well, I might have been the only sunburned one, but we were all very parched! I thought we had brought enough water, five pretty big bottles between the three of us, but we were dehydrated, I guess) we made our way back to the campsite and drank lots and lots of water. Then, since it was still a few hours until nightfall, we drove around the park a bit. Laasen definitely seems like an under-appreciated national park. It is beautiful, lots of hike to go on and lakes to swim in. Bill talked about how it doesn't have those Yosemite-like dramatic items (Half Dome, El Capitan, waterfalls, etc) but it really grows on you. And Lassen Peak itself is quite dramatic. It is a volcano that erupted last in 1915 and now the mountain is barren. In the Tour de France the commentators always talk about this one mountain, Mt. Ventoux, and how it looks like "the closest thing to a moonscape on Earth," but I definitely think Lassen might give Ventoux a run for its money. Too bad we didn't get to climb it, even though I am sure I would've been even more sunburned since there are no trees (I re-applied SPF 30 twice! Not sure how I got so burned!)

Emerald Lake

I am an avid swimmer, as my family knows, and was raised with the belief that if there is a lake, no matter how cold, it should be swum. And Emerald Lake was pretty chilly. But a gorgeous lake nonetheless. Bill hung out on shore while Chris and I swam - it was a great way to relax after 5+ hours of hiking.

The next day, Bill and I were a little worse for wear, so Chris went on an hour long jog while Bill and I drank coffee and relaxed and commiserated about sore muscles. When Chris returned we headed out for some more exploring of the park. Since it was a Saturday, there were a lot more people streaming into the park (still not Yosemite crowds, but more than Friday). We considered our options of doing an easy hike, but it seemed like all the easy ones were crowded, so we settled on some more swimming (even colder lake!) in Lake Helen. This lake was amazingly clear - you could see all the way to the bottom and it was 20 or 30 feet down. Chris had snorkeling equipment, so I got to swim around and explore the lake. There isn't much in it, it is one of those alpine lakes devoid of a lot of living things, but it was still fun to be able to see so much of the lake.

Lake Helen with Lassen Peak in the background

After Lake Helen and some lunch, we decided to head towards Chico, where the plan was to possibly swim some more and then catch an early dinner at the Sierra Nevada Brewery and then head back home.

Chico is one of those cities that I've visited briefly many years ago but written off as a place not worth making a trek to again. It was actually a neat place to visit - but very hot! They have these great swimming areas - the main creek is dammed in a few places to create a natural swimming pool. Also, it is free and their are lifeguards, so it isn't just some rogue swimming hole. Bill, a wealth of information (and who went to college in Chico) said that Chico has one of the 25 largest city parks in the United States and most of the other cities in the top 25 are much bigger (Chico has a population of 60,000). Not sure I could deal with the heat up there, but any place that has free swimming in a great locale AND has the brewery of one of my favorite beers can't be too bad of a place to live.

After exploring Chico a bit and seeing where Bill used to live, we headed to the Sierra Nevada Brewery. We had just missed the last guided tour, but were able to walk around a bit to see some parts of the brewery. Then it was time to eat (and drink). Bill and I each got the beer sampler - small glasses/tastings of 15 beers. Chris was our driver, so he didn't get to imbibe. The beer was good, as always, but it was so hot outside and I was trying not to drink too quickly that by the time I got to my last few beers they were pretty warm. It was still tasty, though.

Our beer samplers

The patio of the brewery restaurant has these misters to keep you cool - I am sure it is common in hot areas of the country, but we don't have such things in the Bay Area. Chris and Bill were figuring that it is cheaper than air conditioning, and estimating the amount of water it uses in a minute, hour, day, etc. I was just enjoying the mist and the beer.


Misters... not even sure that is the proper name, but I will continue to call it that!

Then it was time for our journey home. While many people might think the drive from Chico to Sacramento is boring, I enjoyed it and had fun looking at the scenery. Chris and I dropped Bill off and then made our way back home, and I slept for over 12 hours (sore, tired, dehydrated, sunburned - that is my excuse). I was so glad we decided to come back Saturday night so I could catch up on the sleep I missed - I am a light sleeper anyway, but sleeping one night in a motel that I was sure I was going to be murdered in and then sleeping on the hard ground at 7,000 feet while being suffocated by other campers too smoky campfire doesnt make for very restful sleep...