Beth and I regrettably pulled out of Yosemite on Sunday morning heading for Lassen Volcanic National Park. We stopped for Church in Merced, California at the Life Place Church. It was a very uplifting service and got our day off to a great start.
We had a long travel day, almost 7 hours of driving, but we were still able to arrive at Lassen before dark and get all set up while it was still daylight. The weather forecast was calling for a 70% chance of rain overnight and into the next morning, but it was to clear up in the later afternoon.
We were a bit disappointed to learn that due to winter weather conditions, much of the park was closed and inaccessible. We were, however, staying in the part of the park that remained open with several nice trails to hike. We went to bed knowing that for the first time on our trip we might have to break out our rain gear. And we did.
At some point overnight, I was awakened by the sound of rain hitting our tent roof. The rain continued into the morning hours, not heavy, but steady enough to get everything quite wet. Undetered, we donned our Coleman rain suits and headed out to hike the Manzanita Lake Trail, a picturesque loop around a calm lake surrounded by snow covered mountain peaks. The whole hike is a Kodak moment. The low hanging clouds and fog gave a ghostly appearance to the lake and mountains. It rained during most of the hike, but we remained dry in our rain suits.
After lunch, the rain had stopped and we chose to hike the Chaos Crag Trail. This trail is a 4 mile out and back which ends at a sub-alpine lake at the base of Lassen Peak. As we stood about 300 feet above the lake, there was a significant amount of snow on the mountain slopes around us. We walked down to the lake and felt it’s cold water. Winter hadn’t given up it’s icy hold on Lassen Volcanic.
Before supper, we ended our day of hiking with another walk around Manzanita Lake, this time with slightly brighter conditions. While the top of the peaks of the mountains never became fully visible, we were still able to get some nice pictures of the unique landscape around the lake.
While we were not able to fully experience all Lassen has to offer, we still spent the whole day hiking. With our National Parks Passport stamped, added Lassen to the list of parks we have visited.