Lassen Volcanic National Park was the last stop of the three parks in three days tour. Honestly, we did not know what to expect. Thankfully, the park ranger at the Visitor Center was very helpful and planned out our entire day.
This park is known for hydrothermal areas, so we stopped at Sulfur Works to see natural boiling mud pots and steam rising from the vents.
And it did not smell the best.
The Mill Creek Falls Trail was the first hike of the day. Nick was our pace team for all of our hikes this weekend. Not only did he let us know what pace we were hiking at and the estimated finish time, but he made sure to let us know how much faster we were than the estimated round trip times by the National Park Service. He also takes some good action selfies. :)
Mill Creek Falls drops 75 feet and is the highest waterfall in the park.
There is one main road throughout the park that winds back and forth to reach the higher elevations. We entered at the southwest entrance near the Kohm-mah-nee Visitor Center and drove through the park, exiting out the Manzanita entrance in the northwestern part of the park.
At the higher elevations, some of ice on the lakes was starting to melt, leaving a brilliant turquoise color surrounded by snow-covered mountains. It was gorgeous.
Before the next hike(s), we ate lunch using the top of the car for counter space.
Then, we were off. The afternoon hike to and from Echo Lake was lovely.
The last hike of the day was a quick easy trail around Manzanita Lake which offered many views of Lassen Peak.
And from there, we had a nice 9 hour drive back to Portland.
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