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| Mt Lassen, with Helen Lake |
We spent the 4th of July weekend doing something very American….camping! Hiking, swimming in a lake, sleeping in a tent, drinking hot cocoa, making s'mores. All of those things definitely mean summer in my book. It was a fabulous, and very fantastically dirty, weekend.
Mt Lassen is one of the lesser traveled to National Parks, up in Northern California about a 3 1/2 hour drive from us. And thankfully, that "lesser traveled to" part of it means it was probably the only National Park we could risk it and drive all the way there without a campground reservation, and still snag a great campsite. My parents, the very very experienced campers that they are (and now very retired and therefore have a bit extra time on their hands) were able to head up the day before us to ensure we could get said campsite. We met them the next day -- after they had hiked to the top of that beautiful volcano! We decided the kids were a bit too young to do that hike on this trip…but it's definitely one we have our sights on to do as a family for a few years down the road.
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| the view of Helen Lake from above, with Brokeoff Mountain in the distance |
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| Ryan actually took this photo! A gorgeous view of the valley and Brokeoff Mt |
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| looking at the back side of Mt Lassen |
We set up camp, and Kaitlyn wasted NO time getting herself covered in dirt. The kids loved running around the campsite, stepping on ants, making up games. We went hiking every day, swimming in the lake every day, played board games by latern light, and just enjoyed breathing fresh air and unplugging for a few days. This was Kaitlyn's first camping trip, first time sleeping in a tent. And Ryan had only camped for one night before this. It was such a great success…they both came home talking nonstop about camping.
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| checking out the water temps in Summit Lake, at our campground |
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| yep, the water is perfect for swimming! |
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| warming up on land |
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| getting a lesson from Dzia Dzia on how to make the perfect charcoal BBQ pit for cooking up some dinner grub |
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| this is just about how we found baby K at every other glance |
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| getting ready for our 4th of July hike |
On the 4th of July, we took a 3 mile hike to one of the more famous spots in Lassen National Park…a place called Bumpass Hell. Named after a man who discovered these natural sulphur hot springs in the late 1800s, he walked over the crusty spot on the earth, the ground gave way, and he fell into the boiling pool of mud and was badly burned. It was a very interesting spot, but didn't smell nearly as much like rotten eggs as I thought it would, although Ryan might tell you a different story. He hated the smell, but we all loved looking into the bubbling pools of mud and at the moon-like surroundings.
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| and we're off on our hike….to Bumpass Hell |
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| my mountain men |
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| our first glimpse of Bumpass Hell |
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| we had to stay on the boardwalks…or our fate might be the same as Mr Bumpass himself! |
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| you can see the steam coming out from the vents in the earth behind us |
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| stinky steam! |
The rest of our holiday was spent with a bit of down time back at the camp...
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| quiet time for Ry…camping style |
Miss Katilyn had a bit of a hard time napping in the tent -- bright sunshine, lots of noise, who could blame her? So that first day, I spent quite a bit of time trying to convince her to lie down. She kept climbing out of her pack n play. I thought for sure she'd give up eventually. But instead, little did I know, she was busy taking off her diaper, unzipping the tent door on one side to grab her shoes, she actually put them on the correct feet, and then she unzipped the door on the other side and comes prancing out to greet me looking a little bit like this….
Needless to say, she won the battle, and nap time no longer existed...
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| miss sassafras |
Instead, we went swimming...
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| the walk to the lake, with a pitstop to giggle on the cement curb |
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| warming up on Dzia Dzia's lap |
The next day...
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| the perfect breakfast table |
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| Ryan fell in love with walking on logs |
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| and of course whatever brother does, little sister must do as well |
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| maybe the coolest part of camping….the campground garbage truck (all the kids thought so!) |
We took a lovely little hike down Kings Creek Trail...
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| hikers extraordinaire |
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| playing "peek-a-boo"…little does she know, that tree didn't hide her so well |
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| climbing |
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| these kids were super hikers! |
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| giving Dzia Dzia a back scratch |
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| roasting marshmallows |
Ryan got to experience his first campfire, and more importantly his first marshmallow roast and he enjoyed more than one of those tasty s'mores. They sure were good!
We had marvelous weather the entire weekend…no clouds, warm during the day, cool at night. The mornings seemed to be the coldest, and since we brought all the stuff just in case, I decked the kiddos out in their hats and gloves the last morning there…because why not?
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| a cup of morning hot cocoa, because Nanny said so |
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| our last morning breakfast, before packing up and heading home |
