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Lassen Volcanic National Park
Uncrowded Beauty
We hit Lassen Volcanic National Park on Saturday with clear blue skies and the hopes of some very early season turns on some skis. The skiing never happened, but we did go on a great hike up through the snow and to some deserted mountain lakes. The only time we saw any other people was back in the parking lot. The rest of the time, ours were the only footprints in the three-day-old snow. The park is dominated by Mt. Lassen, the largest plug dome volcano in the world. Don’t ask me what a plug dome volcano is, I just read that in the visitor’s info. It’s a beautiful mountain, made even more so by the fact that it’s easily the tallest mountain around. I wanted to climb to the top, but 4000’ vertical feet in snow with no proper climbing gear was not a good idea. After we got back to the parking lot and were about to leave, someone (not Nate) was yelling my name. I’m sure no more than 20 cars came into the park that day, so who the heck would know my name? It turned out to be Steve MaCeachran (sorry if I spelled your last name wrong Steve), a friend I hadn’t seen since highschool. He just happened to be visiting the park that day with his girlfriend and little sister. It’s strange how you can meet someone you know in even the most out of the way places. (Cue the “It’s a Small World” music)