Lassen

This past Saturday, Britt and I took our second trip into Lassen Volcanic National Park in northern California. Our first trip into the park was during the first day of our honeymoon road-trip when virtually all of California was shrouded in smoke from countless wildfires. For this trip, we would have much better views. We decided to hike up to Brokeoff Mountain (second highest peak in Lassen) instead of doing the Cluster Lakes Loop. Since the hike is only about 7 miles round-trip, we were also considering hiking to Mill Creek Falls as well.As we drove over Lake Almanor, we stopped to get a view of Lassen Peak to the northwest (at right). At this point the peak had a little hat of clouds but there weren't very many other clouds around. Just before reaching the southern entrance to the park we stopped at Bluff Falls for a few pictures. We arrived at the Brokeoff Mountain Trailhead a little after 10am and the parking lot was still half empty. Just before we had everything ready to go a couple of women pulled up in a truck and decided to park right next to us despite the abundance of parking spots elsewhere. No big deal, except for the fact that they parked in the middle of two spots. They appeared to notice their location and began adjusting, however they merely moved the truck a little more forward and, satisfied with their parking skills, got out. We wouldn't see these two until after we were coming down from the summit, some 3 hours later (after spending about an hour on the summit).Immediately, Britt was excited because the first section of the trail was pretty lush and lots of wildflowers were out. Blue Stickseed, Pacific Bleeding Heart, and Fawn Lilies were most abundant. Other flowers seen included Scouler's Corydalis, Slender Bog Orchid, White Bog Orchid, and Drummond's Anemone. As we continued to follow the creek we saw more Bleeding Hearts and Fawn Lilies than we have ever seen anywhere else. The trail steadily climbs up towards the southern slopes of Brokeoff Mountain and the higher we walked, the more the views of the surroundings began to open up. The toughest section came at about the half-way point but offered some decent views to the southeast.When we reached the final section along the southern slopes of the mountain we had a nice view of Lassen Peak before it disappeared behind the mountain, although the clouds were beginning to roll in and we were worried the views from the summit would be covered. We had passed a few groups of people on the way up and we found only three people at the summit when we arrived. Luckily, the cloud base had risen above Lassen Peak and allowed us to view just about everything there was to view except for Mt Shasta to the northwest. Also fortunate was the lack of wind which let us be quite comfortable. Shortly after arriving at the summit, the group of three left and we thought we would have the summit to ourselves for a while. However, a Danish couple that we had passed at about the half-way point arrived about 10 minutes later.The views from the summit (above) were great and we found some rocks to sit on at the edge of the small, flat summit and looked around as we got our lunches out. While we were enjoying the views a little ground squirrel (at right) approached us. At first we didn't realize how accustomed to people he really was and allowed him to get pretty close. However, we quickly learned how bold he was and he repeatedly approached within a few inches of us. At one point I let him sniff my shoe until he started nibbling on it at which point I gave him a quick nudge and sent him skittering down to the next shelf of rocks. This didn't deter him for too long. We were only given relief from his presence when the Danish couple arrived at the summit and he decided to try his luck with them. Fortunately, no one fed him while we were on the summit, however it was pretty obvious that plenty of people had in the past.As we prepared to head back down, a Florida couple arrived at the summit and offered to take our picture. We chatted with them for a little while, recommended a few other places around California to visit, and took their picture before heading down. The wind had begun to pick up and it was the perfect time to get off the summit. On our way down we tried not to go too fast to save our knees from some pain as we descended back down the 2,600'+. By the time we got back down to the trailhead we were pretty happy not to be going downhill anymore. Since it was a cloudy day, perfect for waterfall pictures, we decided to walk the 3.2 miles (round-trip) to Mill Creek Falls, whose trailhead was less than a mile north at the visitor center.From the visitor center parking lot, the trail descends to a crossing over West Sulphur Creek. On the other side of the creek the hillside was completely covered in blooming Arrowleaf Balsamroot (with a little bit of Mule's Ear). It was beautiful. Britt and I have never seen so many Balsamroots in one place. The Balsamroots (at left) continued until the trail turns to the northeast and begins to climb up towards the viewing platform for the waterfall. During this climb our accumulated elevation change started to catch up with us. We didn't realize that the hike to this waterfall has about 950' more of elevation gain/loss. This brings our total at the end of the day to over 3,550'.When we reached the viewing platform we were the only ones there (a couple of people were on the footbridges over the creeks above the waterfall (below). I had seen pictures of Mill Creek Falls before being there in person, but I was amazed with its beauty. So was Britt. The waterfall was also larger (72') than I had imagined. We set up the tripod a little ways down the hill in front of the viewing platform to take some pictures. At some point Britt noticed a deer at the base of the waterfall munching on some plants. Later it bedded down and relaxed. We admired the beautiful waterfall for a little while before taking off just as a man arrived at the viewing platform.On the way back to the parking lot we decided that we had earned the right to get some ice cream at the visitor center. What a great decision. This was some of the best soft-served ice cream we've ever had. We happily cooled our heels inside the visitor center and thoroughly enjoyed our ice cream for a little while. For dinner, we drove to Chester and stopped at Mi Casita, which was another phenomenal decision. I ordered an enchilada and tamale and Britt got two tamales. I also ordered an Especial and it arrived partially frozen and with a nice, frozen glass. This was too perfect after a great day of hiking. The cook was so fast in making our food that Britt barely had time to go to the bathroom before it was ready. The food was some of the best Mexican we've had. Some of our favorite Mexican restaurants include Paradiso in Fargo, ND and Tee Pee in Phoenix, AZ. Britt thought that Mi Casita beat out Paradiso and I thought that it was pretty close to Tee Pee. However, I still give Tee Pee the slight edge because they give a little more sauce on the food. Nonetheless, the food was great and their salsas (hot and mild) were also good. We can't stand it when we go to a Mexican restaurant and their salsas are terrible. Apparently there is a second Mi Casita in Quincy which we will have to check out the next time we're in or passing through town (great fall colors area). We drove the rest of the way home fat and happy and looking forward to the next time we're in the remote and lesser known, but still fantastic, Lassen Volcanic National Park.