After extending our stay in Tahoe by a day, we finally hit the road again – to Lassen Volcanic National Park. The drive took us once more through Nevada and past some strange sights: a shoe tree in the middle of nowhere, a completely white lake (aptly named “White Lake”), a slightly yellowish lake called “Honey Lake” (the creativity is astounding!), and a few towns still basking in their 1950s heyday glory and glamour.
To figure out the route to drive, we had checked the NPS website – only to find out that the main road through the park was still closed due to winter snows (they start clearing it in April, but this year the combination of much snow and cool temperatures made this take longer than usual). So we opted for the northern part of the part, which is closest to Lassen Peak. The park’s landscape is insanely beautiful: trees, snow-covered peaks, meadows, rocks, and lots of water (lakes, rivers, creeks…). Combined with amazing weather (perfect temperature, sunny & blue skies) and absolutely no crowds, Lassen Volcanic instantly vaulted to be one of our top park experiences.
We decided to explore past the closed road (it’s open to hikers!) and discovered Hat Creek. The boys tested to compare the water temperature of the melting snow creek with that of the Merced River in Yosemite and declared it to be very icy and about the same. Since we hadn’t logged into the day-use sign in sheet, we didn’t go too far on the hike to Paradise Meadow, but we could tell it would be stunning if we did.
Lassen Peak is also close to (and responsible for) Devastated Area. The latter was the site of the rock and mud avalanche from the 1915 eruption. Our last hike of the day was very short: the Devastated Area Interpretive Trail. It’s good that they have signs for it, because it is hard to spot! Even the park’s brochure comments on the fact that people often wonder why it is called that, when it so obviously has great tree coverage – well, a century can make a big difference 🙂
The trail really helped make this history visible. Big rocks, informative signs, and some original images supplemented the story we had first read about in the Loomis Museum at the park’s entrance. Nature’s power in action! First to destroy, and then to rebuild. AWESOME!
BaresNation 
Another breathtakingly beautiful landscape! You are blessed to experience such wonder! Thanks for sharing.
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What a photo of the 1914 eruption!
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