There’s nothing like getting away to the mountains for a few
days. We just returned from our annual 'camping' trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Located about 50 miles east of Red Bluff and
north of the town of Chester, Lassen attracts between 350,000 and 400,000 annual visitors
and covers about 106,000 acres. For comparison, Yosemite has about 4 million
annual visitors and covers about 750,000 acres.
One of the primary reasons we've returned to Lassen for
the past 25 years is the opportunity to hike without experiencing vast summer
crowds along the trails to spectacular lakes, falls and geothermal sites. From
our base at Drakesbad Guest Ranch, the only formal lodging within the park
boundaries, we took several short day hikes to Devils Kitchen, Corral Meadow
and Terminal Geyser.
 |
Formerly Dream Lake
©2013, R. Ono |
 |
Warner Valley
©2013, R. Ono |
 |
Devils Kitchen
©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
The hike from Drakesbad to Corral Meadow took about 90
minutes. From Warner Valley, at an elevation of 5,300 feet, we hiked up to an elevation of 6,200 feet over and
beyond Flatiron Ridge to Corral Meadow. The trail took us over a part of the Pacific Coast Trail. At Corral Meadow, Kings Creek provided
a great opportunity for a lunch break and to toss a fly line. The creek yielded
a couple of trout. Both fish were returned to the creek to perhaps grow larger
for next year.
With a rainy start, on the morning of our last full day in
the Park, we took a 2.5 mile hike from Drakesbad, via Boiling Springs Lake, to
Terminal Geyser. In the late 1970s, the Terminal Geyser area was under private
ownership. Shortly after Phillips Petroleum drilled a geothermal well at
Terminal Geyser, in 1980, the Park Service condemned the property and
ultimately added it to Lassen Volcanic National Park. Today, no evidence of past
drilling can be seen and the steam vent at Terminal Geyser provides a
spectacular destination for hikers.
 |
Boiling Springs Lake
©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
 |
Terminal Geyser
©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
After lunch, I fished Hot Springs Creek in Warner Valley. I stopped
wherever I could find a spot along the creek and was soon rewarded with a
successful catch/release. Paying much more attention to finding fishing entry
points along the bush-laden creek, I unknowingly came across a large brown bear – also apparently
fishing in the creek. I’m not sure who was more surprised as we both immediately backed away from the creek.
With rain during our last evening in Drakesbad, we retired
to our cabin after dinner (Spanish romaine salad and rack of lamb, lamb sirloin
with grilled asparagus, tuxedo barley, sun-dried tomatoes and olives, and trifle
dessert) and opened our Kindles for an evening of reading.
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
 |
| ©2013, R. Ono |
While the intermittent rain altered some of our daily plans, I was still
able to walk down to Drakesbad’s hot springs fed pool at 6:30am on several mornings. With a hot cup
of coffee from the dining hall in hand, there is nothing like enjoying the
warmth of a soak in a pool of 96 to 102 degree hot springs water, watching the sun come
up over the surrounding mountains and bring light to the pines and meadow on
the valley floor. I will admit it is a bit harder leaving the pool when the
ambient morning temperature is in the low 50s.
No comments:
Post a Comment