Lassen Volcanic National Park - June 26, 2011

We started the day in Red Bluff, California, on Interstate 5.  The sky was clear with a warm feel to the air.  We decided to see what we could see in the Lassen Volcanic National Park since we skipped it yesterday when we found out highway 89 was closed because of snow.  We headed east on highway 36 and arrived at the park entrance an hour later.  Snow was piled up very high alongside the road but with the sun shining bright it was not frigid.  All trails were closed as they were under six feet of snow at least.  The road was open into the park for eight miles so we drove to the Bumpass Hell parking area and parked the car for a look.  We had clear views of Lassen Peak and for miles around us.  We both experimented with our new camera, too.  The altitude at the point where the highway was blocked was about 8,000 feet.

Returning downhill we stopped at a place named Sulfur Works that had small pools of bubbling, boiling, muddy water.  There were also vents of steam that melted all snow around them and they smelled strongly of sulfur or rotten eggs.  Near the park entrance we stopped at the Visitors Center for a while then exited the park.  There wasn’t a lot to see and do but the scenery was spectacular and we were glad we made the trip.

We headed a little further east and stopped in the town of Chester where we stopped for lunch at a nice little restaurant called The Red Onion Grill.  After lunch we stopped at another little shop (Jeffroe’s) and had peach pie with ice cream.  We also had coffee to keep us awake during the afternoon siesta time.  We back tracked to highway 32 which we took southwest to Chico.  The road followed Deer Creek and was quite scenic with hundreds of twisty curves.  We worked our way to Interstate 5 once more and headed south towards Sacramento.  We checked into our hotel in Woodland and drove into Davis to the home of a Foreign Service friend we served with in Paris.  Bill Mooney had only recently moved to Davis from Maryland but he knows good restaurants in the area already.  We talked for a while then went to Crepeville for delicious salads and crepes and more conversation until it was time for Rita and me to return to our hotel.  We are really enjoying the chance to see old friends on this trip.