Trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park

September 22-25, 2003

We actually left Menlo Park Sunday morning and drove to our cabin in Arnold and spent the afternoon and evening. Then we left Monday, 9/22 morning for Lassen. We drove through San Andreas and took Highway 99 most of the way - we had planned to drive through Chico but shortly before Chico there was an accident on the freeway so we made a u turn over the divider and detoured to highway 5 stopping in Red Bluff for gas and then on to Mineral. The trip us was slow and interesting. I didn’t recognize any of the areas - even ones we had spent a lot of time. The population growth was amazing, I had no idea the population boom had hit northern california so heavily. Yuba City was a huge town - even had a home depot! There were lots of orchards, especially almonds. Some areas where attractive but many were not. I was surprised at the number of housing tracks. Where do all these people work? We arrived at Lassen Mineral Lodge about 4:00 and checked in. It is a very old place, only place in town but the room (#43) is quite comfortable with plenty of room. It had two beds (a queen and a double) plus a table with four chairs so we could work and eat at the table and use the extra bed to pile up our clothes. It was clean and the bed was comfortable and best of all was only 9 miles from the park entrance. I would highly recommend it. Their web site is: www.lassenminerallodge.com

We unpacked and then headed for the park - no one at the entrance and not many people in the park. We drove to Bumpass Hell parking area and hike into the thermal areas - only a mile and a half each way but it took us an hour and a half to walk. The elevation is 7000 feet or a bit more. It was really interesting to see the sulfur pits and the smell was very strong. We enjoyed the hike and the views. Not many birds - juncos and jays about all. Then we continued on to the Kings Creek picnic area where we ate our picnic dinner as dark rapidly approached. I was glad we had brought our dinner as it was 7:00 by then and it would have been a rush to get back to the lodge’s dinning room which closes at 8:00. Headed back to our room in the dark. Oh we saw three deer on our hike and several chipmunks and ground squirrels some of which I was able to photograph. So two tired people are now getting ready for bed.

Tuesday 9/23 Today was a full day in the park. We drove in early in the morning and stopped at Summit Lake. The two main approaches where closed. In fact most of the campgrounds are closed and there are very few people in the park. We only saw two rangers the whole day. We walked around Summit lake - about a mile and a half. The last time we were here was in 1971 with Kenneth - he was 8 at the time and we were 31 and 35. We took our first back pack trip starting from here. My that was a long time ago - we were younger then, than Kenneth and Judy are now! Anyway it was fun to look at it but I can’t remember what it looked like then - probably pretty much the same. We were treated to an excitement of Lewis’ Woodpeckers - at least 20. They were flycatching from high up over the lake. I had to convince myself they were Lewis’ because they aren’t common. In fact the Lassen bird list calls them “rare”. We saw a few other birds around the lake - a young spotted sandpiper - with no spots, a song sparrow, and one eared grebe. From here we continued on to the northern entrance to the park. We were going to go to the visitor’s center but it was closed. I happened to see the ranger there and asked me if there was a way to get a bird list - he nicely opened the center and got me one. He said with budget cutbacks they had to close the center. Too bad - it looked like a nice one- I’d write Gail Norton but I know she doesn’t care about the environment despite her title. We did go to the little camping store which was opened and bought some postcards there. Then we went back to Hat lake where we had lunch. We saw the beaver lodge and where hoping he would show up but he didn’t. We then proceeded to hike to Paradise Meadow. It wasn’t a long hike - only one and a half miles but it was mostly uphill - starting at 6200 feet and ending at 7200 feet. We took it very slow - I always hike uphill slowly but this time the elevation was bothering David too so we really were slow - took us an hour and 45 minutes but we made it to a beautiful, lush meadow. The trail was mostly along Hat Creek with some beautiful waterfalls - it was very worthwhile to suffer so in order to see all of this. We enjoyed lunch along the way and lots of rest stops. Then we just rested at the meadow and enjoyed the scenery. The way down only took 45 minutes. We were treated to another deer on the way down and along a gray jay - not a bird that I see often so it took a while to requester on my brain. Also saw lots of Yellow-rumped warblers. On this whole hike we only met two other people - a couple coming down as we were going up. It was lovely to have so much beauty all to ourselves but I can’t imagine why more people don’t come to this park. It is just as beautiful as the more crowded ones like Yosemite. Well we came back to our lodge and David napped and I took a shower. Then we decided to have dinner at the lodge - their special for the night was chicken fried steaks - a long time favorite from the “old days”. I haven’t had it for years and it was so good. The music they were playing in the dinning room was from the 50’s and 60’s - at least it was until they played the Wabash Cannon Ball and I said “my grandmother used to sing that!” This lodge/motel is from the 50’s or even earlier. I don’t know why more people don’t stay here. We are the only ones in the motel tonight. It is very comfortable and clean. No frills but enough light to read in the room and the plumbing works and the towels are thick - what more can you ask for! So that is it for today - as soon as I go to bed I’ll be asleep!

Wednesday 9/24 Today we hiked the Kings Creek Falls, Bench Lake Loop - I love loop trails so we don’t have to repeat any part. But boy was this a hike. It was about 5 miles and it took us almost six hours to do. It started at 7300 feet elevation - eventually went to 6700 feet after two miles and then climbed back up to 7300 feet. But there were several elevation changes along the way. So we went very slowly. But it was a beautiful hike. the first part of the hike was along the meadow with the creek running through it. Then we climbed down the rock walls next to the Cascades along the creek. This climb was almost scary because at the time I wasn’t sure we were on the right trail and I knew I would never be able to climb back up. But the cascades were spectacular and I was treated to a family of Townsend’s Solitaires - about six of them including a spotted juvenal. They were fly catching over the roaring water. Eventually we reached the falls - beautiful - such a pretty area. Then we had the fun of crossing the creek on a bridge. the bridge was made of two half logs that were anchored on each bank. They were not even so one leg was lower than the other and they were very springy. We had to go one at a time because it wasn’t certain it would hold both of us. The end of the bridge almost felt like it was coming off but we made it - no turning back now. We continued hiking with lots of rest stops and a long lunch break at Bench “Lake” - it was dry. We walked along the base of some wonderful cliffs with all kinds of formations and caves. Later we were walking along the top of them - wonderful sights. We didn’t see lots of birds except for the Clark’s Nutcrackers - we saw and heard lots of them - they were very busy. Also saw White-breasted Nuthatches, a White-headed Woodpecker, lots of Yellow-rumped Warblers, a Cassin’s Vireo and Mt. Chickadees. We only saw a few people - about 3 couples plus a school class. We just sat and waited for the class to pass us - junior high students - and then once again we had the place to ourselves - and the chipmunks - it was wonderful. I love the experience of being out and hiking in the woods - it is the only way I can truly feel free of stress and cares. We got back to the car and drove to the picnic area and rested for a while - I ate some chicken and salad but David had no appetite - he really had a hard time on the hike - that isn’t normal for him. Then we decided it was too early to go back to the lodge so we drove to Chester to check it out - we have been there many times in the past - I suspect it still looks the same - it hasn’t grown much but for a town of 2000 people it had quite a few businesses. It reminded us of Lee Vining - a similar look to it. We continued on to Susanville to see how it had changed. The forest we drove through to get there looks just the same as we remember but Susanville has sure changed. It has grown a lot - they even had a Walmart in town. It is not an appealing town and doesn’t have much to recommend it as far as appearances are concerned but something has helped it to grow. We had a burger at a fast food place and got gas and then came back to the lodge where I wrote this and David went to bed early - poor guy is worn out. So we have revisited a place we spent some happy times a long time ago. We were not disappointed at all in our visit to the Park - it is a wonderful park with lots of things to do. The lodge we stayed at in Mineral was also very comfortable and I would highly recommend it for a visit to Lassen - it is close to the park and is very comfortable. We have decided to go home tomorrow - we will take some scenic route and not be in a hurry since no one expects us home until the weekend.

Thursday 9/25/03 We left around 9:00 AM this morning. The man I turned the key into said the lodge rooms have been recently redecorated - within the past two years. I had told him how nicely designed they were. He said they are open year round but really full in the summer so then early reservations are important. We drove home via Chico, Colusa, Yuba City, and then to Ripon to buy our twenty pound year supply of almonds and 50 granny smith apples for my father. It was a lovely drive between Mineral and Chico - pretty forest and some trees just turning fall colors. There were some attractive small towns but nothing really looked familiar. It was interesting how the larger cities have grown so much and they all start with a housing tract on the outskirts of town. Downtown Chico is still tree lined with old attractive houses as I remember and the downtown looks similar but the rest of the area has really grown. It was pleasant trip. Today we drove 331 miles and the whole trip was about 915 miles.

This wasn’t a birding trip but here are the birds I saw in Lassen Park - 24 species.

Eared Grebe 1

Turkey Vulture 4

Mountain Quail 1(h)

Spotted Sandpiper 1

Belted Kingfisher 1

Northern Flicker 4

Lewis's Woodpecker 20

White-headed Woodpecker 1

Gray Jay 1

Steller's Jay 10

Common Raven 2

American Crow 6

Clark's Nutcracker 30

Mountain Chickadee 15

White-breasted Nuthatch 3

Red-breasted Nuthatch 20

American Dipper 1

American Robin 6

Townsend's Solitaire 6

Cassin's Vireo 1

Yellow-rumped Warbler 15

Brewer's Blackbird 10

Dark-eyed Junco 25

Song Sparrow 2