Lassen Volcanic National Park, CA
After the last goodbyes were said and I successfully managed to pack my food box with all the instant noodles my aunt and uncle gave me, I set off. It was time to leave California and meet up with Courtney, who I'd met in Kings Canyon. But first, a quick visit to Lassen National Park.
Lassen Volcanic NP is known for its volcanoes and geothermal features. It's one of the only places in the world where you can find all four types of volcanoes in one spot. Those volcanoes are: Cinder Cone, Shield Cone, Composite Cone, and Plug Dome.
My visit to Lassen was rainy and gloomy. It is often raining at Lassen since it is not protected from the rain shadow effect. Since I was recovering from a cold, I decided to primarily tour the park by vehicle.
Trail head to Lassen Peak
As the weather didn't seem like it would let up, I decided to continue on and plotted a course towards the coast to continue my drive up the coastal highway. I'm not sure how I decided on the particular route, but I was probably feeling pretty whimsy and probably thinking I'd have all day to make it halfway to Crater Lake, NP in Oregon. The thing you should remember, and that I didn't account for, is that any time you drive on smaller highways through mountains and forests, you have to tack on several extra hours of driving time due to the winding roads and slower speed limits.
Driving through the Shasta-Trinity National Forest
While the weather wasn't very good for hiking around, the combination of fog and extra tall redwoods and pines made for a spooky driving experience. I hoped that the fog would let up, but if not, that was fine too. Into the mystery!
It was pretty late when I finally stopped for the day. I ended up spending the night Grizzly Creek Redwoods State Park surrounded by tall redwoods. This was the first time I'd camped in a place where RVs and other mega tent setups didn't seem so big and obtrusive since each campsite was ringed by even larger redwoods.
