Traveling from Iowa to California was not scheduled day-to-day so we could decide when to stop as we felt we needed to. But once we reached California, I had each day planned out (except for two) because summer campgrounds fill up when families get to take vacations. We happened to make the trek across Nevada in one day as there really weren’t last-minute options available. So, we were able to get into our campsite at Lassen Volcanic one day early with an additional last-minute reservation – whew! There are several hikes we’d like to do here, so fantastic for us!

The visitor’s center at the southern end of the park does not open for the season until Thursday, so we decided to go directly to our campground via the north western entrance by Lake Manzanita. This is the only open campground here this early in June, and it is a large one with four loops, several restrooms, and a camp store with pay showers ($5/person). There are no electrical hookups, so we will have to ration Usain’s battery power.

For our evening stroll, we decided to walk up to the small visitor’s center and museum near the entrance gate and then walk around Manzanita Lake. The museum houses photos taken of Lassen Volcano and the eruptions from 1914-17, and other volcanos and geothermal features. This national park’s claim to fame is having all four kinds of volcanos present here— shield, cinder cone, composite and plug dome. The museum is closed for the day, but we took a picture of the seismographic station that still works. There are now nine official USGS seismographs tracking the park’s volcanic activity. The Lassen Volcanic Center is classified as a “very high-threat” volcanic region, but it should give weeks of warning and eruptions are not expected anytime soon.

The evening is sunny but cool. We observed a Steller’s jay and some Coots teaching their young to dive under a log. Manzanita Lake is smooth enough to beautifully reflect the snowy peak of Mt. Lassen.