Chester, CA, to Reno, NV, to Bridgeport, CA, Thursday and Friday, August 24 and 25, 2017

We both wanted to avoid traveling on I-5 in California when driving from Portland to Phoenix.  Our first day this past Sunday, we were on I-5 for four hours en route to White City, OR.  From White City, we were able to visit Crater Lake National Park and Lava Beds National Monument, and on the back roads from White City, we were able to visit Lassen Volcano National Park ending up in Chester, CA.  Chester is a small city that honors their residents who are in the military by having these large signs on light poles.

Besides noticing the military recognition on my early morning walk around town, I also discovered "Dinky."  Chester is on Lake Almanor, and Butt Lake is nearby.  Both are man made lakes and "Dinky" was one of the narrow gauge engines used to haul dirt and rock for the dams in 1910 - 1914.  After building the dams, "Dinky" was left behind and not discovered until they drained Butt Lake to repair the dam.  The engine was then cleaned up and is now on display in the center of town.

From Chester, our route took us through several small towns and into Reno, NV, where we planned to have a picnic lunch.  We tried Hunter Creek Park - it had picnic tables, parking and great views down onto Reno but had no shade.  We then tried Ambrose Park - it had parking, many shade trees but no picnic tables.  Next was Betsy Caughlin Donnelly Park - a beautiful park, many shade trees, picnic tables but no parking.  Finally, we went to Crissie Caughlin Park which had all the required elements.  It is connected to the Reno bike path that parallels the Truckee River.

From Reno we continued south to Bridgeport.  The town is known for fishing, and our hotel even has rooms that open out to the river for those who want to fish.

Bridgeport is in the eastern Sierras and is at 6,485 feet elevation.  While a small town, it still has an interesting history.  The Bridgeport Inn has picnic tables from old tree stumps and a wagon made into a flower garden.  It has a Mark Twain room, as Samuel Clemens supposedly stayed there.

The mountains around the town still have snow on them.

The logging and gold mining history of the area is on display in the park.

A grand old courthouse is still the center of town.

And here is the side of our hotel that opens out on to the river.

Sometimes it is good to take the road less traveled.

Lassen Volcano National Park, Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017

We left White City, OR, in the morning and headed south.  Along the way, we stopped to view Mount Shasta.

A couple of hours later, we arrived at the north entrance to the park.  We saw Manzanita Creek before it entered Manzanita Lake, and then checked out the Loomis Musuem and visitor center.

 

 

Our next stop was Hot Rock, a 300 ton rock that was ejected from the Lassen Volcano in 1915.  It is named because it was still hot when it was located several days later.

Next, we checked out the Devastated Area Trail, so named because while some parts of the forest survived without being touched by the lava and ashes, others nearby were devastated.

The Devastated Trail is across the valley from the Crescent Crater on Lassen Peak - it was still partially covered with snow.  The crater is where the 1915 explosion came from.

We found a nice place for our picnic lunch on the north shore of Summit Lake.

We then headed for the Kings Creek Picnic area and thought we were heading out on the Cold Boiling Lake Trail.  We were mistakenly on the Kings Creek Trail, but it was a lush trail with all kinds of wildflowers along the creek.

We soon returned to the picnic area and set out on the correct trail (neither trail had signs) and went through old growth forests and meadows to reach Cold Boiling Lake.

This is a short video showing the gas bubbling up that looks like the water is bubbling but is actually cold water.

We then got back in the car and drove up and through 8,512 foot high pass by Lassen Peak, where there was still plenty of snow.
 

We found a parking spot at Bumpass Hell Trailhead.  The trail to Bumpass Hell is named after Mr. Bumpass who planned to develop the area as a tourist spot and to mine the resources there - however, he fell through the thin crust of earth and lost his leg when it was scalded from the boiling thermal waters.

They monitor the seismic activity from multiple spots, including there at the trailhead.

The trail is all above 8,000 feet elevation as you pass from the trailhead to the area of geothermal activity.

The Park Service tries to open Bumpass Hell trail by July 4 each year - we later found out that it opened on August 22 this year, the day before we hiked it.  There were four places where we had to cross ice and snow.

As we got near, you could smell the hydrogen sulfide - it smells like rotten eggs - and you could see it in the lack of clarity in the water.

They now have boardwalks in the geothermal area, both to protect the environment and prevent harm to visitors.

This is a short video which shows the area with fumaroles, mud pots and boilers.

 

After the hike, two tired hikers made the downhill drive for 45 minutes to Chester, CA, our stop for the night.