June 11-12, 2018

TLDR; Our first few nights on the road were a rollercoaster of emotions and mountains. It felt pretty awesome to finally be on the road, and the fact that the shower worked, we didn’t kill each other, and nothing imploded were huge accomplishments. We hiked up a volcano in spite of weak lungs, found that 27-foot RVs are pretty spry, and confirmed boondocking is an insanely awesome way to live your life. Also: Lassen is underrated.

THE SIGHTS

Sulphur Works

This used to be an inn and spa, which is insane considering the bad-egg smell coming from the crazy bubbly boiling mud pits.

Devil’s Kitchen

Since Bumpass (charmingly pronounced bump-ass by Brian) was closed, we had to settle for the second largest hydrothermal area in Lassen, Devil’s Kitchen.

As a fellow hiker said, it’s not Yellowstone (#hikerjokes).

The pits were over 225 degrees and Jess found out that Timberlands may not the greatest hiking boots. Or maybe she just needs better socks.

Cinder Cone volcano

This four-mile hike felt very Mars-like. There was about 800 feet of elevation, with 700 on the volcano, at a 30- to 35-degree angle. We had to stop every 100 steps or so to alleviate the panting.

But the windy view at the top was worth it. Could see into the bottom of the volcano, almost all the peaks in the park, the lava beds, the painted dunes, and Butte Lake.

Then, of course, we ran down.

Milky Way

On the second night, we had an amazing view of the Milky Way outside our back window.

DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS

Made mom’s pasta sauce and opened Chloe’s wine, successfully played some records, and realized we forgot to buy silverware.

Used the Instant Pot for the first time and ate dinner at approximately 11:30 PM.

Took our first shower. It was pretty nice and didn’t leak (it was leaking the first two weeks due to bad sealing).

The park is pretty empty which has been so great. Not any traffic and very few people.

All of the people that are in the parks are so nice. Everyone waves and says hello on hikes (unless you’re a monster).

AND THEN THIS HAPPENED…

We were about an hour into our trip. Really doing it. As we were going around a sharp turn, the drawer below the fridge popped out and slid across Layla. Cool.

Post-Inspiration Point, we opted for a “short cut” to another hike. Not a good idea. Had to add rocks to the road so Layla wouldn’t bottom out. No more shortcuts.

THE MORE YOU KNOW

If you don’t know the conditions of a road, don’t risk it. Gravel is a good sign that you can make it. Big rocks are a good sign you can’t.

Don’t skip lunch before a hike. Merp.

You can basically boondock anywhere in a national forest as long as it’s not on private property, you’re not obstructing any animal life, and you’re not in the road.

RoadFood

Char-pit

Where we stayed

Night one: Wilson Lake

Went a whopping eight miles off-roading on Wilson Lake Road and put Layla to the test. Saw beautiful views of a snow-topped Lassen Peak.

Found a good little spot we dubbed Chester’s Landing. Hiked up to the end to see if Layla could make it…we could barely do it on foot. Saw the head of what Jess swore was a black bear and proceeded to make as much noise as possible.

GPS coordinates: 40.398184, -121.476797

Night two: North of Raker Peak

Went six miles in and enjoyed a gravel road all the way there. Arrived just in time for the post-sunset glow on Lassen Peak and were in the middle of a graveyard of trees. Nobody within a half hour of us. Saw some white-tailed deer at 4:30 AM, followed by a show of a sunrise (see top pic).

GPS coordinates: 40.5458350, -121.4813040