Today was slightly epic.
We got up pretty early, left the house a little after 7 and arrived at
the Lassen Peak trailhead around
8:15. This is a 2.5mi climb with 2,000 feet of elevation gain, starting at
~8,500 ft. and climbing to 10,500.
Needless to say, we had to stop and catch our breath many times. I think it took a couple of hours to make it
to the top but the trail was fun, friendly and the views were amazing. At the “fake summit” the view was beautiful
but if you really wanted to make it legit you have to do a ~150 ft. rock
scramble to the very top, which we did.
Ryan was light-headed but she did fine. About half way up we got enough cell service
for me to call the sheriff back. The
number he left was not a valid number, which was "sus" so Ryan looked up the main
sheriff number, I called from like 10,000 ft. and the lady said it was a
scam. Whew. Poor Ryan was racking her brain, trying to
think of all of the people and cars she may have hit with her car without
realizing it (worrisome…but moving on…)
We took some pictures at the top then headed back down, arriving back to the trailhead around 12. We drove about ½ mile to Helen Lake and ate another go-to pepperoni/cream cheese/Ritz cracker lunch at a picnic table, then walked to the lake and put our feet in.
The kids skipped rocks for a while (fun!) and then we kept driving in the same direction (further south than we’d be so far) to the main southern entrance/visitor center/café (Kohm-Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center). This having-to-still-wear-a-mask-thing in all federal buildings is ridiculous and the many people weren’t and the park ranger came over the loud speaker with a panicked voice, reminding us all of the rule. We grabbed ice creams then got in the car to drive back to the house.
But I must mention the highly inefficient road
construction/pilot car system the park has employed all throughout as a means
of hiring as many people as possible, with tax payer dollars, to do as little
as possible. We waited about 30 minutes
before a pilot car guided us for several miles at 15 mph past 100 feet of road
construction.
We made our way back to the house around 4, relaxed (tv,
phones, puzzles), fixed a nice steak dinner, then watched the Blair Witch
Project and the kids were FREAKED out.
It was hilarious. Ryan slept with
her night light on. Grant locked his
door and watched iCarly to “decompress” we didn’t make an outdoor fire to roast
s’mores. Instead, Grant made them in the
microwave 😊. The
kids are still being great and hilarious and getting along really well. This has been a super fun trip!
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