Lassen vicinity overnighter

Discussion about winter adventure sports in the Sierra Nevada mountains including but not limited to; winter backpacking and camping, mountaineering, downhill and cross-country skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, etc.
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hikerduane
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Lassen vicinity overnighter

Post by hikerduane »

I did a trip to the south a little of the entrance to Lassen Vol. Nat'l Park on Saturday. The chalet is gone if you aren't up with things, to make way for the new and larger building. I guess with Katrina, funding was cut because the bid came in $5 million over, so the construction has been scaled back some. Snow is at normal levels according to the young lady manning the entrance booth. I snowshoed into where a small lake should have been, I either was almost to it, or the road to it made a turn and I missed it. The road was well marked I thought. I did around 4 miles on Saturday before setting up my old tent. It only got to around 15 degrees so I was able to test my new 15 degree WM bag. I was a little disappointed, cold came up from the bottom, some it felt by my feet and I had some cold spots around the bag here and there during the night, but nothing major, not the warmth of my other WM bag. I slept in on Sunday and didn't get hiking until around 10. The road in was flat to downhill some after a mile in, some water flowing. A good road for xc skis. A light wind blew in places, about 2 to 3 feet of snow where I was at, almost to highway 36. No one else back in there. The only critter tracks I saw were squirrels, nothing else. I thought of having a fire but limb wood was damp and not that plentiful so I was not concerned much. I stayed up a little to pass the time and when I went to bed I read a little. The moon was about 1/4, add the lightness of the snow and you could see around fairly good.

I thought we could use some reading material so here is a post for you all. Have a great day!
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BSquared
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Post by BSquared »

Thanks, it sounds like a great trip! I think I remember from my California days that there was a [commercial?] hotspring that people used to XC-ski to in Lassen in the winter (it was closed of course, and so my hippy friends would go skinny-dipping in the snow). Any idea where that is?
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hikerduane
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Post by hikerduane »

Warner Valley area? SE corner of the Park, out of Chester.
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hikerduane
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Post by hikerduane »

CRS. Drakesbad. :) I was thinking last night too after posting this, that maybe it should have been in the Beyond the Sierra forum. Not sure exactly where the Sierra Nevada range ends, pretty close to Lassen.
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dave54
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Post by dave54 »

hikerduane wrote:CRS. Drakesbad. :) I was thinking last night too after posting this, that maybe it should have been in the Beyond the Sierra forum. Not sure exactly where the Sierra Nevada range ends, pretty close to Lassen.
Drive up Hwy 89 from Canyon Dam towards Chester. Just north of Canyon Dam is a large road cut (about the Welcome to National Forest sign). The astute observer will notice the southern 1/2 of the road cut is the granitic schist common in the Sierra Nevada while the north 1/2 is basalt.

Drive north on Hwy 147 from Canyon Dam up the east shore and you pass thru a series of low road cuts. They alternate between granitic schist and basalt.

Along the Bizz Johnson Trail near Goumaz campground is a large granitic outcrop with columnar basalt on either side.

Keddie Ridge/ Moonlight Pass area has both granite and basalt more-or-less intermingled.

The boundary between the two ranges is rarely a distinct line, as noted in my first example. It is generally a 10 mile or so wide band running east west between Greenville and Lake Almanor.
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dave54
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Post by dave54 »

BSquared wrote:Thanks, it sounds like a great trip! I think I remember from my California days that there was a [commercial?] hotspring that people used to XC-ski to in Lassen in the winter (it was closed of course, and so my hippy friends would go skinny-dipping in the snow). Any idea where that is?
Several in the area. Terminal Geyser just on the southern border of the Park. You can snowmobile pretty close on the road system. Inside the Park is the Drakesbad Resort, and further up Warner Valley is Devil's Kitchen with sulfaroles and hot water vents.
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