Plumas County Part 2-Lassen Volcanic National Park
Our trip to Plumas County was primarily to visit the Lassen Volcanic National Park. Though Lassen gets a fraction of the visitors that Yosemite gets, it is equally stunning. This makes Lassen all the more appealing in the social distancing era we live in now.
From ice sheets in July, beautiful alpine lakes and alpine wildflowers to belching mudpots, simmering sulfate rivers and geothermal vents, Lassen has it all. We had only recently become aware that California had a Volcanic park. Lassen is quite different from the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which we visited several years ago. Both parks are must sees. So glad that we got a chance to finally explore this hidden gem in California!
Getting to Lassen
We drove from SF to Greenville, CA(a 4 hour drive), where we relaxed at a splendid ranch for a few days. We then drove the short distance from Greenville to Lake Almanor. Almanor is an hour or so away from Lassen by car, making it a convenient place to stay since Lassen doesn’t have a ton of lodging near the park.
Interesting Facts about Lassen
Due to its elevation and location in Northern California, snow arrives early and stays late. This means that the park is operational for a short span of ~3 months! Lassen was one of the first parks to re-open after the COVID lockdown.
We learnt that the park is one of the few places that is home to all four types of volcanoes — plug dome, cinder cone, shield and strato. Lassen Peak is a 10,500 ft plug dome volcano, considered active since it last erupted in 1915.
Day 1 — Lassen Peak Hike
Locals in Greenville had recommended that we do the hike up Lassen Peak. We considered briefly the possibility of a 4.00 am wakeup to catch the sunrise at Lassen, but wisely decided that we weren’t in a position to pull it off!
We reached the park at 9.00 am. A brief stop at Sulphur Works featured a simmering mudpot. We then marveled at the deep blue of beautiful Lake Helen, which reminded us of the glacial lakes at Banff and Jasper.
As we parked at the Lassen Peak Trailhead, we saw several families with children getting ready for the hike. We had been assured that kids, seniors could do the hike, difficult as it was, so it was reassuring to see other families. We braced ourselves for a hot, long day.
From the parking lot, further up the mountain, we could see the start of the trailhead. Behind the trailhead sign we saw an impossibly steep, almost vertical path on the mountain face. My heart sank. My tween proclaimed that there was no way we could climb that trail, especially given my history of knee injuries. I couldn’t fathom how the other families had hiked up this trail. Something didn’t quite add up. We told our son that we would make our way to the start of the trail and then decide what to do.
It turned out that the path we saw from the parking lot, was not the official trail. There was a sign warning people not to use that steep vertical trail. It had been used by some as a shortcut, damaging the landscape. We could now see the official trail, which hadn’t been visible from the parking lot.This trail was less steep and snaked around the mountain.
Relieved, we started to walk. Oh boy did we walk! We walked for what felt like an eternity.
It took us roughly 3 hours to hike the switchbacked trail with an elevation gain of 2000 feet in just 2.5 miles to reach the top. Lassen reaches an elevation of ~10400 ft above sea level.
This hike was tough but totally worth it! We stopped frequently, sometimes every few minutes to rest in the shade and catch our breath. Although it was hot, as we gained elevation, a cool alpine breeze made things quite tolerable. We had taken plenty of water with us of course. Lake Helen often smiled right back at us as we rested while beautiful alpine wildflowers brightened up the barren landscape. Hikers we met on the trails courteously wore their masks and observed social distancing.
After an arduous few hours, we finally reached the top! Fantastic views at the top included a snow capped Mt Shasta.
Permanent ice sheets are all over the Lassen mountain and prominent at the summit. Some of these sheets are colored pink due to cryophilic algae.
We had our lunch at the top of the summit, reveling in our accomplishment of making it to the top and pushing ourselves to do so even when we had come close to giving up. Our tween was particularly elated in sharp contrast to his mood going up. Going back down was a breeze- our son practically hopped, skipped and jumped all the way to the parking lot and encouraged tired hikers going up the trail to keep at it!
Day 1 Wrap up— Manzanita Lake
After wrapping up our hike at Lassen, we drove to Lake Manzanita. There are several campgrounds by the lake. We decided to walk around to find a quiet spot. To our surprise, we found that the park had a kayak rental service right there. A ranger, a grizzled, friendly man walked us through our options. Although we hadn’t planned on it, we couldn’t resist renting a kayak. After the grueling hike, it was marvelous to relax on the placid lake. We kayaked and sometimes drifted silently, taking in the views of Lassen.
Day 2 — Bumpass Hell Trail, Devils Interactive Map and Butte Lake
We decided to continue our explorations of Lassen instead of exploring Lake Almanor. Since we didn’t have a long hike planned, we took our time and got to Lassen around 11.00 am. Bumpass Hell is a popular and easy trail to view mudpots and sulfate lakes. We were glad to observe again that everyone wore masks and observed social distancing while on the trails.
In sharp contrast to the alpine terrain from the Lassen hike, the Bumpass Hill terrain was marked by blue sulfate lakes and streams, simmering mudpots and steam vents. It was surreal. Signs around the trail warned of visitors who suffered burn injuries when they wandered off the trail. It was a sober reminder to respectfully marvel at Mother Earth while she mysteriously brewed and stewed her volcanic soup.
On our way back, we had an outdoor picnic lunch, graced by the presence of these magnificent wildflowers (silverleaf lupine)
After a few brief stops in the park, we drove towards Butte Lake. The last twenty minutes of our drive was on a dirt road. It was a somewhat long drive to Butte from Lassen, and the bumpy ride on an unpaved road wasn’t something we had planned for. Butte was delightful and what's more, wonderfully secluded. The lake is surrounded by lava rocks and several scenic hikes in the area begin at Butte. We saved those hikes for another visit and made the most of a quiet spot by the lakefront. The tranquil evening at Butte was a perfect way to wrap up our trip to Plumas County and Lassen Park.
