Location: Lassen National Park, CA
A month or so ago, my friend Denise Allured and I dreamed up the perfect summer camping getaway. Our plan was to head north to beat the summer heat and explore the backbone of the Cascades from Mt. Lassen to Mt. Rainier. We named this trip the "Double D Cascade Jaunt." Everyday has a hike or bike trek planned. If we are not dead by the end of the trip we at least will be in better shape. Wahoo...the day finally arrived. We took the scenic route of highway 32 and really enjoyed the vistas on both sides of the ridge. By the time we arrived at Mt. Lassen we were in awe of the killer views - you could see Lake Almanor, the wooded valley and beyond.
You know that old axiom, it's not the destination but the journey, well that pretty much described today. When I was about 33 years old, (for you bean counters out there that was 20+ years ago) I hiked to Mill Creek Falls. Somehow I remember that hike as being relatively flat and through a meadow. WRONG! This was supposed to be our "ease into the trip warm-up hike" to get ready for the climb to the top of Mt. Lassen tomorrow. Instead the hike was a very strenuous downhill/uphill climb. I think we hiked a little over 7 miles today. The walk really was about the journey. We ventured through meadows of wild flowers, sometimes waist high in lupin, Indian paint brush, daisies, and corn lillies - to just name a few. We started at Kings Creek and were accompanied by several babbling brooks meandering through the wildflower meadows. We skirted two lakes and then began the descent down, down, down. When we finally reached Mill Creek Falls it was nothing like I remembered. It's the biggest fall in the park of at least a 75 foot drop. Unfortunately, we approached it from the top and were never able to get a view of the actual falls descending. The climb back was a challenge especially since I was still recovering from the Half Dome hike, blistered included. Thank goodness for Denise's patience and expertise on how to tie up laces for a tight fit - way to go Denise! One of the scientific highlights of the hike was stumbling across some bear scat or to be more specific the "fecal plug". When I was in Glacier the ranger gave a talk about when a bear sleeps for the winter (not hibernates) it licks itself and digests its own hair. This forms a "fecal plug" so that he isn't awakened by bodily functions. Apparently it's a rare find to come across this. Imagine our surprise! We spent some time examining it and thought it pretty cool. I know other chicks dote on their looks we get our kicks out of bear scat. This is definitely a match made in heaven. Our campsite tonight couldn't be better. Not bad for showing up and winging it. We are camped at the summit next to a meadow at the end of a loop. We have privacy, shade and a killer view. We got back from the hike a little later than anticipated (3 hr. 47 minutes and close to 7 pm) so instead of cooking up veggies and salmon we made a killer salad with veggies from our gardens. Yum! Of course, the wine helped it go down easy...Tomorrow is the big hike to the top of Lassen. Here's to a good night sleep, blistered healed and an early start!
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