LOCATION: NE California
WEATHER: Beautiful. Highs around 70. Some smoke
I had seen a sign on the park's message board saying that it was worth the drive to a little town called Old Station for breakfast. So, we decided to try it out. It was a cute old-fashioned country cafe serving home-style breakfasts. It was busy when we arrived, so some local guys helped bus the tables.
Since we were already 15 miles out of the park, George suggested that we drive to a town called Susanville where there is a brew pub. (Surprise, surprise). It was a nice drive around the circumference of the park, through Lassen National Forest. Susanville is a cute town. The brewery, Lassen Ale Works is inside the old Pioneer Saloon, built in 1862. The walls are decorated with ranchers' cow brands. There is even one there from Bing Crosby's ranch.
We bought lunch to go, and later had a picnic back in the southern end of the park. We drove the 30-mile road through the park. We stopped at Bumpass Hell for a 3-mile hike. On the park's difficulty scale, it was categorized as 2 on a 4-point scale. They must get very fit mountain hikers to decide the difficulty level as it sure seemed harder than "moderate"! At the end of the trail is a boardwalk where you walk over the steam pots and boiling water ponds caused by the molten lava under the surface. It smelled strongly of sulphur dioxide. It reminded me of Yellowstone. It got its name from Mr. Bumpass, a guide in the 1800s who discovered the fiery cauldron and took tourists to see it. One day, as he was cautioning the tourists away from the lethally-hot areas, he fell through the crust and severely burned his leg. It is called Hell, either due to the steamy, boiling atmosphere, or my theory, due to the steep climb back up. At 8000 feet, we were really huffing and puffing.
Next to Bumpass Hell is one of the park's pristine glacier-formed lakes with Mount Lassen in the background.
George made a campfire and our nice neighbors joined us for drinks. Small world....they know some of the Mayo descendants who live near them.
DINNER: Last of George's fish! I made a fish chowder on the grill. I started by sautéing some red onions, garlic and diced baked potato. Then I added the fish, chicken broth, and corn, and let it simmer for a bit. At the end, I added a small amount of broccoli and cream cheese for body. Thank goodness George ate it all up.....no leftovers! :)
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