In Lassen Volcanic National Park

For the first time on this trip I really did have a ‘proper' night's sleep, not waking until 6.30 AM. As we were staying a long way from any cafés or restaurants we'd bought cereal bars the day before which we ate with coffee made in the room. Then we made a prompt departure, driving initially towards Redding. We stopped briefly by Whiskeytown Lake to take photos, then carried on to the outskirts of Redding where we stopped just to get petrol and buy cold drinks and snacks

Lassen Volcanic National Park

We then continued to Lassen Volcanic National Park. I had bought an America the Beautiful pass before leaving home so we displayed that for the duration of our time in the park. The pass cost $80 and park entry would have been $30, so we had already made back some of the cost.

We spent the best part of the day in the park, stopping at several of the many points along the main park road. The park had very recently (July) been devastated by fire. It had only reopened a month ago and parts were still closed, but almost all of what we wanted to do was accessible.

Just inside the park entrance we stopped to take photos of Manzanita Lake, but our first main stop was at the northern visitor centre to pick up a map. From here we crossed the road to follow the Lily Pond Trail which also took in views of Reflection Lake (although it was a bit breezy for good reflections).

We then made several shorter stops in the central part of the park. At the Devastated Area we saw boulders thrown here during the eruptions in the early part of the last century. And at Hat Creek we saw a pretty little waterfall and fall colours just appearing.

King’s Creek too was a pretty spot, and nearby was a picnic area with tables overlooking a meadow, so we had our snack lunch there.

After lunch we made a series of short stops at various viewpoints including the Lassen Peak viewpoint, Lake Helen and Emerald Lake.

We lingered longer at the Bumpass Hell stop, between Lake Helen and Emerald Lake, where there were dramatic views over the valley below. We didn’t attempt the trail there however as I felt the distance and steepness would be a bit much for me.

Instead we continued to the Sulphur Works stop where geothermal activity can be observed right next to the road. There were bubbling mud pools, steam rising and a strong smell of sulphur in the air. My video gives a better idea of the scene than any still photo can do, although it can't convey the smell!

We walked a little way up the trail here but it seemed to be taking us further from the action rather than closer, so we didn’t go far.

We planned to stop at the southern visitor centre on our way out of the park, but it was closed. It seems that this late in the season only one centre is open each day. So we just carried on to Mill Creek where I had booked accommodation in the motel-style rooms (known as The Village), situated across the highway from the much smarter and therefore dearer Highlands Ranch. We had to check in at the latter where a friendly woman asked if we had got her message. I hadn’t, as we’d had no data during the day. It had been to warn me that they had no hot water in the rooms as the fire had damaged the system and they were still waiting for repairs. We were offered a $50 discount or a free cancellation, but with nowhere else to stay in the area it was a no-brainer to accept the discount and put up with cold water! Luckily it was a hot day, so a cold shower wasn’t too much hardship.

In the photos below you can see the contrast between a burned area and another unaffected by the fire. Both were taken on the road right next to the resort.

There was also no internet in the room although we could pick it up at the store next-door. So we went across to the restaurant in the main hotel a little earlier than our 7.00 PM dinner reservation to use the internet there to catch up on messages. We then had dinner which was very good in terms of food quality (my salmon was particularly good) but marred by poor service as we waited more than 30 minutes for our main courses to be served. Nevertheless we lingered in the bar afterwards over a drink before walking back across the road in darkness, enjoying the stars overhead.