October 28, 2010

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!

5 comments:

Gerrie said...

Our first year in California - 1976- we rented a cabin there and had so much fun exploring the area and hiking on Mt. Lassen. The kids were amazed to see snow in August.

allie aller said...

You look so happy in all of the pictures! That is my favorite part of the scenery.. ;-)

Kristin L said...

I am now all about the lava tubes -- that one is awesome.

Vivien Zepf said...

I've never been to this area; so glad you're posting the picture. The lava tube is spooky, but cool!

giddy up said...

Found your blog and noticed your trip to Mt Lassen. It brought back great memories to see these pictures as my Grandparents lived in a small town near there called Manton and we used to go to the park alot. Beautiful pictures, haven't been there in years....