Elisa and I came up to Redding, California to visit our Son, Daughter-in-law and our Grandson. I also am helping our son Brandon refurbish his basement. After a couple of days of work, Elisa had to head back home and I stayed to continue working. Today, the temperatures were expected to soar here in Redding, so we decided that since work was a bit ahead of schedule, we would beat the heat and head to near by Lassen National Park. It is about a 50 minute drive from their home in West-Redding. As we headed up the hills, we saw the temperatures slowly begin to decline. It was 108 here in Redding and only 78 at Manzanita Lake, which is just inside the north entrance to the park. The lake sits at about 6000‘ elevation and Mt. Lassen looms over it with an elevation of 10,500’.
We packed a lunch of some sandwiches and drinks, which we hungrily devoured shortly after we got to the Park. With our bodies energized we set off on a leisurely hike around Manzanita lake. It is a fairly easy and level hike that is about a 2.75 mile loop around the lake. Along the way, Brandon and Maile happened to run into one of their friends from Redding. So, we weren’t the only ones trying to get away from the heat.
The hike offered us a number of places along the way to pause and for grandson Kainoa to “top off his tanks” - thanks to Mom. It also offered some wonderful spots to capture some stunning photos of Mount Lassen. As you can see there is still some snow up there.
It was a quick trip up there and after our hike we stopped at the small visitor center near the lake. It is named after B. F Loomis, who in the early 1900 set out to capture the majesty of the park on film. He happened to capture in stunning detail the eruption of 1914. Large prints of these photos form a centerpiece for this small museum. Apparently, there used to be much larger facilities at this location that included a lodge for visitors and a much larger visitor center. However, in the 1970’s the USGS recommended that the Park Service close those structures because of the potential devastation that could occur in this area should the volcano erupt once again. In fact, this area of the park is known as the “Devastation Zone”. To look at it today, you would hardly believe it with tall pines and trees surrounding the area. However, the old photos dell a much different story of what the area looked like in the 1930’s - more than 20 years after the eruption. At that point, the area looked a lot like a barren lunar landscape. In the intervening years, Mother Nature has done her best to repair the land. There is a camp ground in this area that appeared to be very busy on this warm day.
There are larger accommodations nearer the South entrance of the park. Unfortunately, we would not have enough time to tour the rest of the park. We’ll have to same it for another day when Elisa and our motorhome can make the trip.
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