Only home from our three-month adventure to Canada and Alaska, for eleven days, it was time to visit places close to home, celebrate a milestone birthday, and our anniversary. Reservations were made and we took off on Monday, September 26th for Lassen National Park arriving around 3:00 and setting up camp in one of our favorite sites C45. The weather was supposed to be in the low 40’s at night and the low 70’s during the day, all sunny! We took a walk around Manzanita Lake and visited the Visitor Center, as it was a perfect Fall afternoon.
That night we decided to climb Mt. Lassen the following day to celebrate John turning 70. It had been on our list, and felt this time was the right time, as wind was predicted for Wednesday, and since we had already hiked Brokeoff Mountain, as well as the Cinder Cone this would be a bit easier. The sunset over the mountain that evening was beautiful. Up in the morning, and after packing our daypacks and putting on our boots, we hit the trail around 9:30 am for the 4.8-mile round trip hike. We made it to the top around noon and it was windy, but only two-layer weather. 74 flights climbed, 6,895 steps according to my watch.
Wednesday was an easy day, visiting the other visitor center on the south side of the park and points in between. Thursday, we headed for Burney Falls SP and camped in campsite #4 for three nights. They had just gone off the reservation system, so we lucked out. Friday morning, we took our kayak and headed for Ahjumawi Lava Springs State Park which can only be reached by boat. We had done this boat trip before, crossing Big Lake, but wanted to explore a bit more. It was beautiful, with little wind.
Saturday, October 1st, the park became quite busy, and we stayed in the campground wandering around, taking in the falls, the old fireplaces scattered throughout the campsites, and also putting our kayak into the algae waters of Lake Britton within the park. The algae usually show up this time of year as the water temp increases. Sunday was head-home day, but before we did, we took the Headwaters Trail to see the Headwaters Pool. It’s a 1.8-mile round trip hike, that we never knew existed even after visiting the park numerous times. Burney Creek dries up as you go up the trail but ends with a shallow pool that provides evidence of an underground route of the water exiting at the falls. It was a fabulous six days, allowing us time to talk about our future adventures and selling our home after 27 years.
