Mt Lassen: In search of fall colors - A NorCal Adventure

[chandi]

Headed this weekend to Lassen Volcanic National Park hoping to catch some fall colors along the way in Plumas & Lassen counties.

Heading down Hwy.36


First hint of fall colors


As you get closer to the town of Mineral, Hwy.36 starts a series of nice sweepers


Moss on a redwood?


And there's a whole bunch of those trees with the moss on them


As I got closer to the Lassen National Park, the elevation rose to more than 7000ft, and I passed through some serious clouds and rain


Only to be told that the road ahead is closed due to heavy snowfall


There was evidence of snow fall even at lower altitudes

[chandi]

So I came back down to go around the park, and saw more fall colors along the way


and more..


And pretty soon I was riding in rain even at lower altitudes. But the one saving grace - a nice strong rainbow across the sky.

Here's one end of it:


And here's the other:


Then the Sun set the clouds on the fire:





After the sunset, it took me about an hour to find a motel. And in the meanwhile, the temperature dropped steeply, it rained even more heavily (freezing rain ofcourse), and for a few alarming seconds the 'pitter-patter' of the rain was replaced by the 'clink-clank' of icicles hitting the bike at speed! All in all, it was the coldest half-hour ride I've ever done, and was glad to stumble into the motel room when I did find it.

And the 'almost full' moon rose amidst fall colors

[chandi]

In the morning, went down to watch Burney Falls:


It's fed by underground springs and has pretty much the same temperature and strength of flow throughout the year


It's a 129 ft. fall!


I had a lot of time to kill before the road through the Lassen Park opens, so I decided to try offroading a bit. There were trails pretty much everywhere you look


However, most of these trails turned to mud soon owing to rains the previous day - too muddy for my taste


Hat creek meadows:


Then I went spelunking
Went into subway cave - a 1/3 mile long lava tube

[chandi]

Finally made my way towards Lassen Peak


Mt.Lassen from Manzanita Lake.


Twiddled my thumbs here some more before the road officially opened - late enough that I barely had enough time for a quick jaunt through the park.

Mt.Lassen dressed in fall:


Helens lake:


Snow from the day before:

[chandi]

But the road itself was clear. Here's a couple shots of Hwy.89 through the park:













Although I had to watch out for debris quite a bit:


Vents spewing feverishly, stinking up the whole place:


And then I slabbed it back home:



Hope you enjoyed the pictures.

[FishWitch]

WOWOW Awesome pics!!!Thanks for sharing looks like a fun trip!

[Backmarker]

Ok, I'm gonna be late for class, but that was SOOOO worth it! As soon as I saw that you had a new post, I HAD to look. You do such amazing stuff. I will definitely come back to this one for another look!!

[MyLife on TwoWheels]

Cool pics! Sounds like you had a nice ride!

[G8ESCAP]

Amazing pictures!

Such awesome scenery.

[Ghost]

Those pics are just plain awesome and I mean awesome. Thanks
Ghost