For Harshitha’s birthday weekend, we did what we like most. We visited another national park. Lassen Volcanic National Park is the 19th park that we have visited, out of 59 national parks in the United States. Its a fast 220 mile drive from bay area that has a bunch of very attractive experiences bundled together – hiking, dark sky, steam vents, beautiful lakes.
A view of the Lassen peak from afar. A strenuous 5 mile round trip to the top which sits at an elevation of 10,457 ft.
Once the trail ends, unexpectedly and not-so-welcomingly, there is more hiking in the snow and then some more rock climbing to get to the peak. Very refreshing to see snow in summer.
The views from the top are sensational to say the least. From the top, Mt. Shasta can be seen and it looks stunning.
The main attraction in the park are these steaming mud pots, sulfur filled lava vents. Its a very short and easy 1.5 mile hike to get there with beautiful views on the way. Highly recommend doing this and get a view up close.
Throughout our trip, Lassen kept reminding me on the Rockies in Colorado. This picture is an example of why that was. Such reflections in lakes always make beautiful pictures. This is lake Helen in Lassen which is sitting pretty next to these mountains. And there are many such lakes in Lassen (including Manzanita lake where we set up camp).
As the end of the milky season is coming closer, my obsession for seeing/capturing it is getting to a new level. Conditions and timing were not perfect this time but I still managed to get a peek at our magnificent galaxy.
Nowhere in Particular 