I Returned Home

from Lassen Volcanic National Park at about 5:00. What a wonderful trip it was. My landlord, who seldom leaves Reno for anything and hasn't for years, loved it so much. He will be 82 tomorrow. I planned on hiking around Manzanita Lake, which is just inside the entrance from Highways 89 and 44, and is a nice, flat path of about 1 mile to 1.6 miles (depending on the source of the information), but I was concerned whether Bill (the landlord) could hike it. Remember, just a year or so ago he almost died from an infection after having gone through knee surgeries which left him pretty much incapacitated for the better part of a year. Well, he was dressed for the occasion, wearing hiking boots and khaki shorts (he used to hike years ago and was quite an enthusiast), and he seemed to handle the trail very well.

The views of Lassen Peak from Manzanita are just stunning. Professional photographers come to the lake all the time to take pictures. Well, I had my camera and my camcorder, and I photographed and taped all kinds of stuff there.

It took us about an hour and a half to complete the trail. Then we drove the main paved road through the park (I didn't want to take the dirt roads this time around), and we went past Hot Rock, the Devastated Area, Kings Creek, and clear up the goddamned summit (which reminds me a lot of the Mount Rose Highway--a highway I detest and REFUSE to drive on because it is so treacherous--except at Lassen there are no guardrails to keep cars from going over the canyons plunging hundreds of feet below), the summit where I turned chickenshit back in 2003 when I went through the park alone except with my dog Tony and decided to turn around and go back. This time, I went through the entire paved distance.

There was still snow on Lassen Peak. The landlord felt so invigorated, he wanted to go on yet another hike, but I told him he'd better rest up for a trip to Yosemite in a couple of weeks.

Finally we went to the Sulphur Works, which is only about a mile from the opposite entrance to the park. The area stunk like rotten eggs, but it is a unique experience to hear the belching and seeing the hot air coming from the ground.

We headed out of the park, thinking what a great way to spend a summer day and not think about all of the bullshit going on in the world, and we drove back on Highway 36 back to Susanville heading south to Reno.

I'll be paid next week (when I return back to work), and I will get the pictures processed and uploaded on the blog, if the pictures are good.