We retuned a few hours ago from a great weekend up north, where there are no katyushas, only beautiful California nature. We spent 2 days exploring Lassen Volcanic National Park, situated about 4 hours drive north of San Francisco. We drove up on Friday night as the kids were sleeping in the car, and arrived in Redding, a sweaty town which serves as the base for nature exploration in the far North of California. With us came the Weisses. On Saturday morning we drove 45 minutes to Lassen and began the day with a nice 1.6mile hike around Lake Manzanita which Ron completed successfully without being carried even an inch of the way. Way to go Ron!!! Daddy carried Shir and Orr while Mommy took care of the backpack and the camera. After a nice lunch overlooking the lake, we drove to a campsite where Dana and Lior were going to spend the night. We set up camp and then Lior and I did a quick 4 mile hike to a dormant volcano called Cinder Cone. It was raining and we heard the rumble of thunder as we started the climb. Luckily when we got to the top it cleared up and we had a great photo session. When we returned to the campsite, Ron and Yoavi (1 year older) were playing together very nicely, which got both families to the conclusion that hikes and trips are always better when your little ones have someone of comparable age to hang out with. This reduced the number of nags, cries and temper outbursts dramatically for both families. After fumbling with wet wood, we managed to get a fire going and cook some meat on the grill. Towards dusk we said our goodbyes, leaving the Weisses to their tent and returning to out motel.
Today we continued to travel in the park, hiking briefly along Summit lake, before heading up to the highest roadside point in the park. This vista point overlooks Lake Helen, which is still partially frozen. Take a look at the great pictures of Ron tasting snow. After driving a bit more, the kids started to get restless and our lunch was set up in an impropmtu meadow near some sulfur steam vents (stinky). After that, we started the long drive back home, and unfortunately the kids did not appreciate the long commute. Lesson for us is to always do long haul drives after 7pm. All in all, this was a great weekend trip, for most of it the kids were terrific, and best of all is that next weekend we will be up north again…
The links to the pictures don’t work 🙂