Mt. Lassen (Part I)

A couple months ago I started organizing a huge camping trip to Lassen National Park, which us ‘Dingers have the pleasure of being a little over an hour’s drive away from. The total cost for two campgrounds for two nights was $74, but thanks to the number of people who committed to the trip it cost no more than $8 per person!

This was our silly group shot– the serious one is much too boring to post! From L to R we have Chris, me, Jim, Chritsina, Jillian, Tatton, Gina, Tina and Mat. Not pictured: Kyle.

We camped at Summit Lake North and could see the lake from our fire pit. It was beautiful, freezing, hot, windy and crowded.

The sunsets were unbelievably magical, but the lake made for some prime mosquito habitat. Ouch!

Since Chris and I are a couple of jobless bums, we got to arrive early on Friday. We set up camp, checked out the lake and enjoyed a baked potato and cheesy-pasta dinner before anyone else showed up.

The next morning everyone had breakfast together, some more elaborate than others. My breakfasts consisted of apples and cheese, or chips with avocado and lime ‘cos I’m lazy.

Tatton taught us about the art of “troll poling.” Apparently, a troll pole is a long wooden pipe used to ignite fire from embers. Since we didn’t have one, Tatton used his fingers, which Chris coined as “orc whistling.” Brilliant!

Fortunately we didn’t need no stinking troll pole to get our percolator percolating– Chritsina had the fire situation under control. :P

Around noon on Saturday everyone started to get antsy, so six of us piled into Jillian’s car and drove down to Mt. Lassen.

Kyle sat in what is technically the trunk and lived up to the required creepiness that comes with such a position.

Jim and Chritsina decided to relax at the camp and be adorable instead of hiking all afternoon with us. Can’t say I blame ’em!

Stay tuned for Part II which will chronicle our journey to the top of a 10,000 ft. mountain!