# It's That Time Of Year...



## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

On Friday afternoon after everyone gets home from work and school we'll be off to our favorite fall campground, Manzanita Lake at Lassen Volcanic National Park. From our home in Roseville, CA it will be about a 4 1/2 hour drive, maybe a bit longer with a dinner stop. This year we are going to make it a three nighter so the kids will miss school on Monday. They are all torn up about that!









Night time temps up there are now into the low 30's and the low 70's for the daytime. We love it up there this time of year as the campground is "dry" use only, so there are very few other campers. Once it starts to snow, they close the campground for the season.

This year, I would like to make a side trip to Burney Falls and check out that State Park for a possible future camping trip.







Google maps shows that it is about an hours drive from Manzanita Lake. Not too bad. We've been chipping away at the "get ready for camping" tasks a little bit each night this week. Last night was getting the batteries strapped down and hooked up after pulling off the trailer cover. I also replaced two of those rubber thingies that hold down the propane cover. Tonight I'll load up the truck with the generator and firewood, increase the air pressure in the tires, fill it up with gas, then the kids can toss in their "traveling supplies". I think I will also be able to pull the trailer out from the side yard and hook it up to the truck with shore power to start cooling down the fridge and make it easier to load up.

We are fortunate in that we have two other cars that we take to work, so the Tundra is now in semi-retirement so I can do all the pre-camping trip work ahead of time. Nowadays she's only called into duty for truck stuff. The 13 mpg was getting a bit too expensive to daily drive her. Now our other cars, a 2008 Toyota Yaris and a 2009 Toyota Corolla, get 33 mpg and 30 mpg respectively.









Take care everyone!


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## wolfwood (Sep 19, 2005)

Too bad about the kids but they'll get past it....

13mpg??? NOT towing??? Sounds like SHE's telling you that it's time for FULL retirement and that a new BIGGER sister should join the ranks. I've *heard* that Toyota makes a really nice truck .... with 21+mpg ... they even come in green ...









Have a GREAT time, Herb! Sounds like our kind of place!!


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## Chabbie1 (Dec 3, 2006)

This year, I would like to make a side trip to Burney Falls and check out that State Park for a possible future camping trip. Google maps shows that it is about an hours drive from Manzanita Lake.

Herbicidal,
Hope you have a wonderful trip. We were at Manzanita Lake a couple of years ago and did the same thing. We checked out Burney Falls. It is definitely a drive to make and go camping another time. We have camped at Burney several times and love it there. This time of year should be perfect and beautiful. 
The falls are spectacular, we never even knew that it existed!
Take lots of pictures. 
Chabbie1


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## N7OQ (Jun 10, 2006)

Sounds like fun, we have camped at Manzanita Lake and loved it. I also took my float tube and fished the Lake, catch and release, artificial lures only and there some huge fish in that lake. You can walk around the lake and see some of those huge trout in the shallows, and there are catchable too, just watch them they will move in a large circle and come back to the same spot. After they leave the spot you see them at cast a good floater dry fly and wait until they came back and hope they take it. If you cast to them it will spook them, these are big fish 5lbs or better.

Have a great time!


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## Sayonara (Jul 23, 2007)

Enjoy !!


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## toolman (Jul 12, 2005)

We stayed at Manznita Lake the last week of August. Had a great time. They were re-paving all the way over the summit. Hopefully they are done otherwise expect delays if you go to the Summit/Bumpass Hell etc.

Have a great time.

Toolman (Gary)


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

wolfwood said:


> Too bad about the kids but they'll get past it....
> 
> 13mpg??? NOT towing??? Sounds like SHE's telling you that it's time for FULL retirement and that a new BIGGER sister should join the ranks. I've *heard* that Toyota makes a really nice truck .... with 21+mpg ... they even come in green ...
> 
> ...


Yeah, 13 and not towing, but hey, I didn't buy that truck for the fuel economy! That's what the Yaris and Corolla are for.







Plus she's paid off. I've heard those rumors too...







Right now she's still the biggest Toyota in the garage.

Thanks everyone! It is a great place up there at Lassen. We lived in Redding from about 1970 - 1972 and we used to go up there to get out of the heat in the valley. The Manzanita lake campground brings back lots of good memories for me. Unfortunately I'm not much of a fisherman so those trout are safe. I've certainly seen them from the shore or when I'm standing on a stump. Occasionally one will jump for a bug on the water and spash back in. Such a peaceful place. I think there will be too much of the moon left in the night sky, but man the stars are something else late at night! The Milky Way is almost lost from sight due to all the other stars that are visible. Also, I may ask my daughter if she would like to hike to the summit of Lassen. She's 11 1/2 and I believe could handle the hike. My youngest (almost 8) would probably get bored and complain about how long it's taking.









The truck and trailer are hooked up, tire pressure is good, refridge is cold, kids are mostly packed, I'm hitting the grocery store on the way home from work today and those groceries will go right into the Outback. I just need to fuel up the Tundra, fill up the water tank on the Outback, find some clothes for myself, grab some good books and call it done.

I'm going to work a 6am to 2pm shift tomorrow, pick up the kids on the way home and with any luck we should be on the road before 4pm. I can almost smell the pine trees now. I can hardly wait!


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## Chabbie1 (Dec 3, 2006)

Have a wonderful trip!
Remember we want pictures!


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Chabbie1 said:


> Have a wonderful trip!
> Remember we want pictures!


Aye, aye Captain! Camera is packed and ready to go too!


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

We made it back from Mt. Lassen with a completely uneventful trip. The best kind!









We arrived at the campsite just a little past 9pm on Friday evening. As we pulled off the main hwy and into the entrance to the park itself there was quite a bit of smoke. Then we saw the signs that "controlled" burns were taking place and not to call the local authorities. Then as we moved further into the campground we could see numerous "baby" fires all over the place! There is just something wrong seeing small fires burning throughout the forest and no one around to keep an eye on things. We set up camp and then walked around a little to see first hand the small fires. As it turned out, they were really just smoldering with a lot of smoke and some very small flames and virtually no movement. Still a little unnerving though.









Saturday after breakfast, consisting of buttermilk pancakes, chocolate milk and turkey bacon (less fat, splatter and tastes great!), we cleaned up and packed a lunch and headed out for Burney Falls. It was about an hours drive from Manzanita Lake campground. At one point during the drive we even saw a Bald Eagle! Very cool. We paid the $6 entrance fee, parked and walked the 100 feet to a falls view point. They are beautiful (129 feet tall)! We then took the falls trail loop which is about 1.2 miles long. It takes you down to the bottom of the falls and then you walk along the stream, cross a bridge and then head back toward the falls. After a brief climb you end up approximately equal with the top of the falls, then head further upstream to cross another bridge then circle back to the starting point. All in all a nice little hike.

We then drove through some of the campground to Lake Britton and had lunch sitting on the tailgate of the Tundra looking out over the lake. After lunch we headed into the town of Burney and gassed up the truck. Then we started back towards Mt. Lassen. The plan was to go to Cinder Cone which is located in the north east corner of the park. We headed back down hwy 89 and turned east on hwy 44. Eventually we came to a gravel road that basically headed south for 6 miles to Butte Lake where the trail head for Cinder Cone is located. The trail length to Cinder Cone is about 2 miles to the top. The first 1.9 miles is pretty easy, just a gradual incline, then from the base of Cinder Cone to the top feels like about a 60 degree slope. The kids even went down on their hands and knees to crawl up the trail for a little bit! The loose soil on the trail makes it feel like for each step you take, you slide back 1/2 a step. Believe it or not, my almost 8 year old son made it first! I just couldn't catch up to him. The climb up took about 45 minutes. The Cinder Cone is about 700' tall and man, you feel every foot of it by the time you reach the top! My legs and lungs were on fire! The views are impressive. You can see Butte Lake and Snag Lake from the top, plus the Fantastic Lava Beds stretching off to the north east and south east. By this time is was pushing 5 o'clock and the sun was getting low in the sky. We started back down and made it to the bottom in just about 8 minutes, what a difference! We hiked back to the trail head and drove back to the good ol' Outback.  We finally arrived back at our campsite by around 6:45pm, fixed dinner, made a fire and had some s'mores. MmmmMmmm! From the dinner table we could still see some of the little fires burning off in the distance. What a day!









Sunday after another breakfast of buttermilk pancakes and the rest of the bacon, we packed up another round of lunches and headed around to the other side of Mt. Lassen to the trail head of Bumpass Hell. This trail is about 1.5 miles long and takes you to an active geothermal area. There are mud pots and bubbling hot springs (no geysers, however) and an elevated path to keep you safely away from the danger. We surprised the kids and brought along a mini Fluke infrared thermometer to measure the temperature of whatever we could check. Last year on our trip to Yellowstone, the Junior Ranger Program included in a backpack of supplies, an infrared thermometer which was a HUGE hit with us, the kids and anyone walking by. We used it almost exclusively in and around the geysers near Old Faithful. Anyway, after hiking back out of Bumpass Hell, we drove to Lake Helen and sat on the shore and ate our lunch. Then we continued on down the road to the brand new visitor center. It's very cool! After spending about an hour there, we headed back for camp. This time we managed to get back before dark. I took the kids on a short walk down to Manzanita Lake and once again checked out some of the small little fires still burning. We did see a CDF crew checking up on the burning areas this time around, so I was glad to see that! We then had dinner, built another campfire, made more s'mores and called it a night.

For those of you that weren't keeping track, we hiked about 8.2 miles in two days! Not bad at all. It's great when the kids are old enough to do these type of hikes successfully and on their own power! There was even very little complaining from my youngest.

Monday morning was a breakfast of cold cereal in a warm trailer, then we set about packing up and getting ready to go. I plugged in the receiver for the tire pressure monitoring system and after a few moments the alarm sounded! Tire pressures had dropped to 46 psi due to the cold air temps (mid 30's) and the altitude, about 5,890'. I visually checked that tires and confirmed none had gone flat. I figured that once we started down the road, friction and the drop in altitude plus the increase in air temp would bring the tire pressure back up. After about 15 minutes I plugged in the monitor and the tries now showed a reading of 48 psi and the alarm no longer beeped. After about 30 minutes, the tire pressures were up to 52 psi. We arrived safely home about 3pm. That's it for Mt. Lassen until next year. Sigh.

Enjoy the pictures.


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## cabullydogs (Jul 12, 2008)

Great photos. Looks like a place we should check out, we loved Lake Almanor, so this looks right up our alley.

Typically when do they see snow up there for the park to close?

Meredith


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

Thank you! Snow closures can occur as early as October and as late as December. Mother Nature can be rather finicky. Here's a link to the official web page for Lassen: http://www.nps.gov/lavo This is what I monitor from time to time.


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## rdvholtwood (Sep 18, 2008)

Great Pictures - Thanks for sharing.

This is one of the many things I like about being a member of the Outbackers - being able to explore other regions - without being there!

Hopefully, someday, Donna and I would like to take a trip cross country.

Rick


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## cabullydogs (Jul 12, 2008)

Thanks Herb, I'm going to keep an eye on the weather in case we can sneak a trip in this year before the snow!


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## TripperBob (Oct 22, 2008)

Took a quick look at the photos yesterday. Very nice! Too bad I don't own a generator to try some dry camping up there.......Then again, not sure the rest of the family can live without the cable TV that the KOA's have.


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## Herbicidal (Aug 29, 2003)

rdvholtwood said:


> Took a quick look at the photos yesterday. Very nice! Too bad I don't own a generator to try some dry camping up there.......Then again, not sure the rest of the family can live without the cable TV that the KOA's have.


Thanks! By the way, there is a KOA just down the road from Mt. Lassen on hwy 44. It's the Mt. Lassen / Shingletown KOA. Open from March 15th - November 30th.


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