Summer'15 - Lava Beds NM and Tahoe

The last stage of our journey took us past the Lava Beds National Monument and Reno to Lake Tahoe.
From Crater Lake we drove South again, after I almost lay awake the entire night, because I couldn't get my feet warm in the sleeping bag. The thought being, it's usually warmer in the South.
We wanted to drive till Reno stay for the night and proceed to Tahoe the next day. But the way got longer and longer and we got more and more desperate in the car. Our legs now trained to walk a couple of miles per day did not feel good in the car and right at the moment when you think you cannot take it anymore something happens. In our case it was a street sign showing the way to the Lava Beds NM. Yeah - off we go, just an hour, maybe a small hike - who knows.
So we took the turn. It needs to be said, that there is literally nothing around in that area and you drive miles without seeing anyone or anything - of course no reception.
The park was a real surprise. You can walk and if you are up to it crawl through miles of Lava tubes. You can rent lamps and equipment to discover the tubes. There is no way for me to take pictures in the tubes which show how amazing they are. It is a one of a kind experience, we enjoyed a lot. We will be back to do the more challenging tubes maybe next year.

Lave beds NM - entrance to one of the caves

Left from the entrance

Boys equipped with their head lamps, ready to go into the cave.

From there, we drove till Susanville, because the one hour stay was more like a 3 hour stay - worth it every minute.
The next day be drove to Reno. I'm not sure what I expected. We ended up in the International Automobil Museum which shows some of the cars formerly collected and restored by Harrah, the same guy who founded the Harrah's casinos. It is a nice collection taking you through the ages of automobile development. We had fun looking at the beautiful restored cars. We had a perfect lunch at Old Station Street Eatery and from there drove on to Tahoe.
I need to mention that it is a rather bad idea to drive to Tahoe during peak season on a Friday - lots of traffic and lots of people. Coming form the more or less wilderness in the North we felt weird with so many people around.

In the Automobile Museum

That's the original!

 Nevertheless, we made the best out of it. We headed out for some shopwindow and town viewing because it rained that day till 6 pm, we weren't really up to hike. We had cocktails and just fun being silly. Paul found his food paradise, a jerky shop - oh man this stuff was really good and we stocked up with buffalo, elk and boar for next days hike.

South Lake Tahoe evening fun.

Jerky? - JERKY!!!!

Paul: That's a food paradise.

 We went up Eagle Lake, but apparently almost everyone else was ging there to. So we followed the Velma lakes trail and enjoyed the beautiful views.

Eagle Lake hike

Jerky break

Big stones

That's the way we like it!

We will be back to Tahoe, but more likely during off-season. Not only are the hotels less expansive and the campgrounds empty, also you have the trails and lakes to yourself.

Summer'15 - Crater Lake

After leaving the Lassen Volcanic National Park, we went up to Crater Lake National Park.
Some wildfires were burning in the park, about 1500 acres, but far from the trails and the campground and therefore the park remained open.
On our arriving day the wind blew the smoke over the lake and you could smell it everywhere and it was hard to see the other side of the lake.

Due to the smoke from the wildfire the view is not clear across the lake.

Another view across the lake.

So we decided to stay for the Junior Ranger activities and learn how this lake was formed rather than go for a hike. The boys earned their first badges and were happy and we all went back to the camp a little smarter.
At camp we took it easy and lit a fire to cook and just sit, talk, read and play.

Camp side bbq.

On the next day the wind had changed an the lake lay blue and clear in front of us. We climbed Mt. Scott. From the top you have the perfect view onto the lake and the surrounding mountain tops.

View next morning.

View from Mt. Scott

After the hike we had some camp time before we set out for our night hike to the watchman tower to see the sunset. We accompanied a ranger, who gave some insight into the mountain formations, wildfires, flora and fauna. All important stuff, which the kids later filled in their ranger booklets, to earn their second badge at Crater Lake, the next morning.

Crater lake during sunset.

Sunset.

Besides from the beautiful hikes and mountains, the rangers make these parks a special place. We had some great talks with them and the educational program makes it fun for everyone to learn.
Ranger Madeleine talked with the boys about the tasks in the booklet and what they learned. They really take their time. We now have two Crater Lake Junior Rangers in the family :).

Sunset at Crater Lake.

Wizard Island during sunset.

That's us during sunset.

Summer'15 - Lassen Volcanic National Park

We did it again. We made a road trip. We didn't organize anything. We just packed our camping equipment and some cloth and drove North.
Our first destination was Lassen Volcanic National Park. Upon entering the park we thought we would stay a day and then drive on. But things usually end different than thought before. I bought a hiking map and on the way to the campground we already saw that it was impossible to leave this place so quickly. In the end we stayed 5 nights and hiked 5 incredibly nice and utterly different from each other trails.

The first day we started off easy. We camped on the Summit Lake North campground, where also the trailhead to the Echo lake is located. So off we go to Echo lake and after a short 2 mile hike we dive into crystal clear water. The lake just for us, no other hikers around. Since this was only a small tour, we decided to also do the short hike to Bumpass Hell, where it smells of H2S and sulfur is everywhere, hot boiling mud pits and steam. Totally out of this world.

I guess we have to stay longer - studying the trail map

View along the way

Rest on the first hike

View onto Bumpass Hell

Bumpass Hell 1

Bumpass Hell 2

Bumpass Hell 3

On day 2, we were a bit undecided. We drove up to the trail head of Lassen peak, which is the highest elevation in the park. We thought, why not try hiking up there, let's see how far we get. What can I say we made it to the top. It is a wonderful, strenuous hike with beautiful views. On top we were greeted by snow and built a small snowman.

The peak from a far

Trailhead

Lava formations along the way

The nutcracker

Almost at the top

We made it!

On day 3, we decided to do a round trip, the Kings Creeks falls loop. The hike started along the river mostly downhill with some nice little water falls. The way took us along dried up lakes, lava formations and idyllic meadows. We did not see the coyote which strayed around there, maybe next time.

Waterfalls

Rocky Road

Dried up lake

Luckily we found a nice lake for a rest and swimming pause- of course, we had the lake to ourself again!

Meadow

Day 4 was a bit rainy after a night with thunderstorms hitting the area. So our first stop was the Subway tube - a lava tube, which you can walk through with the head lamp on. This was an incredible feeling, back then we didn't know that we would crawl through even longer and tighter and higher lava tubes at the Lava Beds National Monument. After that short stop we drove up to the Butte lake, where the trail head to the Cinder Cone is located. Again, luckily it rained, even though it was more or less an on and off thing, because otherwise the way would have been really dusty. It is an amazing feeling to walk up there, one step up half a step down. We couldn't appreciate the painted dunes fully - but you always have to have something to come back for.

The boys in the tube.

Lava beds along the way to the Cinder Cone.

Lava beds detail.

The Cinder Cone from a far.

It's almost like walking on the beach, but uphill.

And of course - we made it!

View onto painted dunes.

The crater.

On the way out of the park the next day we stopped at an educational trail to learn about the devastation the eruption of the Lassen peak brought upon the area 100 years ago.

It was a very interesting stay. Besides the huge variety of trails, along which you learn a lot about volcanism, the park rangers offered every other night a program in the evening to learn about animals and trees which are found in the area. The kids could have earned their Junior Ranger badges, if we would have know about this before.  Surely, we can recommend to everyone to visit this beautiful Lassen Volcanic National Park - great mountains, great people.