July 28 - Lassen National Park
I leave Reno around 7am. It's supposed to be around a 2.75 hour drive (yuk)! But it's a pretty easy one; mostly 65 mph, lots of cows and lots of dry landscape. Things moving smoothly until the stretch of Rte 36 which was under road construction intermittently the whole way -- one lane traffic. I definitely was slow going but I still arrived at the park around 10am. (I forgot about the Lassen 2021 fire that burnt 73K acress - coming extremely close to the town of Chester (where I am staying) and burning thru alot of Lassen. Lots of scars clearly visible but lots of new life as well in the form of saplings, large trees that survived in pockets of death, and lots of plants now blooming.
That's the way Mother Nature works!
Oh, and lots of windy roads to get here.
There's only one car in front at the gate so I get thru quickly. I spot at the parking lot because I really have no plan for the day. I have water in my backpack so I'm ready for a hike but I'm probably just going to be a tourist today and get a lay of the land.
I start with the Sulphur Works. This is the park's most accessible hydrothermal area and it right off the road. It certainly smells like a thermal area (rotten eggs). Looks like there was a trail thru at least part of the area at one time but it's closed. The 1st stop is a bubbling mud pot
and funky looking hills.
Across the street is more interesting with a thermal stream and the whole works.
Pretty cool but I was expecting something a little different.
Moving on is a bunch of uphill with lots of tight corners and a road that you don't want to stray even a little off of. Decent view of Broke-off Mountain at one point.
Passing lots of great flowers along the way and I believe I've passed a Parnassian. However, all I can do is keep driving.
At one point there is a pull-out w/ flowers and it's my chance to stop.
Awesome! A CA Tortoiseshell. One of many I see today!
I make a stop a Emerald Lake. So pretty!
And then it's Lake Helen. Again so pretty!
I pass Bumpass Hell parking area and it's pretty busy but not full yet. (It will be on my way out of the park.)
Note that there is still snow along the road in spots which seems very weird considering the snow was gone in the E Sierras expect over 10K if that. But this is more north.
I make a stop at the Lassen TH. Lots of parking still available and huge snow piles around the parking lot! I stop briefly to check things out.
Those 5 spots are pretty close but it's a lnoger drive to the Kings Creek picnic area. I'm hungry, it's 11am so I'm stopping. And the best thing about this stop, there a crystal clear creek and lots of wildflowers. Before I eat, I check out the flowers. But as luck would have it, the afternoon clouds start rolling in and not making for good butterflying.
But I do find one Greenish Blue before the sun disappeared. (Oh, yes there were CA Tortoiseshells. They were everywhere.)
I have lunch; still cloudy. So I decide to walk to Cold Boiling Lake as it's only a 0.7 mile walk to it. Maybe the sun will be out when I get make. The trail is pretty cool and stark.
It's thru an area that was burned. I'm surrounding by burnt trees but on the ground are silvery Lupine (they are wonderful) and these low growing plants with pink "puffs".
Both are all over the ground. There are patches of other flowers as well.
I also see a few Blue birds
I reach the Cold Boiling Lake and it looks like any of lake but there are people at the sign and since Crumbaugh Lake is only 1/2 mile longer, I just continue on passing this section of burnt forest where the trees are all bent over. I have to assume it from prior avalanches but I don't know for sure. It's pretty cool though.
The walk seems longer than 1/2 more but I'm heading downhill and out of the woods (kinda). I finally see the lake but it does not look like the trail goes near the lake so I turn around.
On my return, I spot and see the "Boiling" Lake.
And the family of duck on the lake.
Oh, and the American Lady also by the lake!
The sun is out now and lots of CA Tortoiseshells flying now. There's a nice patch of flowers with at least 6 CA Tortoiseshells nectaring. There's also a Frit that flies annoying the CA T. Unfortunately, the Frit never stops.
I get back to the picnic area and go to inspect the sunny meadow. And it's has butterflies. I see:
Lupine Blue,
Sandhill Skippers.
Orange Sulphurs
Nevada Cloudywing (a lifer for me)
Much different (earlier) butterflies that the late season Coppers I was seeing in the E Sierras.
Time to move on. I decide I'm not going past Summit Lake today. I'm tired.
I pass a great meadow just before the very busy King Creek TH. I need to stop on the way back.
Then a bit of a travel to the south Summit Lake campground. This lake does not have good reflections as the others. But it's a pretty lake. People are in kayaks, on paddleboards. Quite busy.
I move onto the north campground but just turn around. I'm ready to call it a day.
On the way back I stop at the northern edge of the meadow and againg in the middle. Some walking around gets me a couple of Skippers.
Then it's just the slow drive out of the park.
It's a good day and I'm ready to do some tourist hiking tomorrow.
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