Following our week in Yosemite, we had a hotel night in Reno at the Nugget Casino (it’s cheap!) which was a startling change in scenery but provided an opportunity to hang out in a pool and get some groceries and laundry done.
The next day we started driving toward Lassen Volcano National Park, which was not on our bucket list of parks to visit but is conveniently between Reno and Crater Lake. On the way, a large pole flew out of an oncoming truck right as it passed us – “luckily,” I ran it over rather than it hitting the windshield. About half an hour later the Mazda had an engine light on, which we determined was an O2 sensor code. Unknown whether this is for sure related to the pole incident, but the Mazda is running fine, so we are treating the engine light as a new decoration!
We camped one night in the national forest, where something sounded like it was roaring/grunting. Later, we figured out these were frogs, but it was a little disturbing that night.
The next day we went to Lassen, which is a volcanic area that had eruptions throughout the early 1900’s. The park has all four types of volcanoes and some thermal areas. It was also still heavily blanketed in snow, limiting our trail options due to closures and dangerous conditions without appropriate equipment.
We did a unique hike up a cindercone, which was surrounded by lava flows and colorful rock. In addition we visited the “devastated area” which was completely covered by the flows from the 1915 eruption as well as cold boiling lake, a lake with gasses that create an illusion of boiling.
The park was heavily affected by the 2021 fires, so many campgrounds and trails are still recovering. We were able to reserve a campsite in the park and took the opportunity of a more relaxed day to cook a better dinner. After pasta for days in Yosemite, we were craving veggies so I made a huge batch of cowboy caviar that lasted three nights. Shout out to Kira for this idea!
Lassen was definitely worth the stop-over, we learned quite a bit and the recency of events there was interesting to learn about. The park has a unique type of beauty and added some diversity to our itinerary.
Not Sew Fancy Travels 