(+ side trip to Subway Cave)
After a sampling of the snow and water conditions in the Sierra Nevada, my tramily and I decided to wait another week for the high creek crossings to subside, even if just a little bit. We believe that they are at their peak for the season, and waiting a little longer to cross them will result in safer crossings – our priority!
Instead of sitting around, we decided to use this time to hike a low elevation (i.e. notoriously hot) section in Northern California. You know what that means… road trip!
Our road trip ended at Subway Cave, a ~20,000 year old lava tube in Lassen National Forest. We camped nearby, and in the morning donned warm jackets and headlamps to explore the Cave. This was the second lava tube we’ve visited – the other one was in Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park on the Big Island.
The afternoon was spent strolling through new trail! I was excited to see flowers familiar to me from Southern California, and fascinated by new flowers (and new bugs) too.
It was a gentle, beautiful day and a tad hot – I can’t imagine what it would be like to hike this section in July.
The trail was dominated by lava rock, towering trees, and the imposing snow-covered Mt. Shasta and Lassen Peak in the distance.
