Lassen Volcanic Park Trip - Part 1

Last week I had a fabulous vacation in northern California in the vicinity of Lassen Volcanic National Park.  It's the southernmost peak in the Cascade mountain range--I hiked Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens in the northern part of the range last year--where it meets up with the Sierra Nevada range. The quirky geology and the aftermath of the Mt. Lassen eruption in 1915 make for varied and stunning panoramic views.

We paused at one of the turnouts driving up the mountain to admire a rainbow colored halo around the sun:

And a particularly picturesque rocky crag:

After a bit of exploring on the mountain, we stopped at Summit Lake:

Which afforded grand views of Mt. Lassen:

Next up was a stop at the devastated area.  It was interesting to contrast it with the devastated area of Mt. St. Helens; here, there had been time for the conifers to make a comeback. 

Next stop was at Subway Cave, an lava tube.  Here's the staircase at the entrance:

The walls inside were remarkably smooth and fantastically colored.  Here I am lit by flashlight.

And the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel at the other end:

On the way back to the hotel in Chester we saw a forest where the incense cedars survived a fire:

We drove past Poison Lake, which looked very dry......I'm guessing it fills up seasonally, but haven't found an explanation of how it functions yet.

We passed a stand of aspens in full fall glory:

At a stop in Westwood to visit a meadery, the engineer blew the whistle and waved:

A full day and a good day.  Stayed tuned for part 2!