The High Lakes of Lassen Volcanic National park, Day 2

Shadow Lake

 

Date: July 29, 2023

Place: Lassen Volcanic National Park, Old Station, California

Length: 5 miles

Level: moderate

Link to the first part of this hike

On the morning of my third day of my summer trip to Lassen Volcanic National Park I woke up with direct sunlight shining into my tent. If my tent had a mystery keyhole to a dragon lair, for sure it would have become apparent. Being somewhat of a dragon myself I got up with renewed energies and got ready to go and explore the high lakes in the area. 

Since already yesterday I decided to do this as an in-and-out hike rather than a loop, I left my tent with all the gear I didn't need for a short hike, I hid away the bear canister, and I set out carrying a light pack with just some water and an apple. 

My hike to the lakes as captured by my GPS

I walked briskly without taking many photos until I got to the trail junction with the spur trail leading to Cliff Lake, and I turned to see the lake.

Cliff Lake Trail

A short, 0.3 mile trail spurs off the main trail and leads downhill to Cliff Lake. I arrived there when the sunlight was already down and watched as it slowly spread over the water surface. 

Cliff Lake

The lake was beautiful and calm. It reminded me of many little alpine lakes that I've seen on my backpacking trips in the Sierra Nevada mountains. On many of thse tris I used to camp within eyeshot of the lake. Here in Lassen Volcanic NP camping near the lakes is prohibited. Getting there early enough to see the charmed morning was close to the camping sensation thugh. 

Cliff Lake

I could have stayed there longer, but my time was limited, so I took one last shot of the east side of the lake and started back toward the main trail

Cliff Lake

The lighting was a little better now, that the sun was higher and stronger. I paused briefly to look at a lovely patch of fawn lilies that bloomed near the Cliff Lake trail.

Purple Fawn Lily, Erythronium purpurascens

There were also a few patches of old snow between the trees. It was nothing like the large snow cover that ranger had warned me about. I wondered if the higher lakes would have more snow near them. 

Snow Patches

The next lake on my agenda and the larger of the group of high lakes was Shadow Lake. I was all alone, walking up the mild slope, enjoying the quiet morning. 

Trail

The next body of water I saw however, wasn't Shadow Lake but a smaller pond which, although marked on my map, did not have a name. It did have a great morning reflection, though. 

No name lake

Past no name lake, the trail continued uphill in a pattern of small ledges interspaced with stretches of leveled walk. There were more snow patches along the trail, and at last I could also see Lassen Peak peeking above the trees ahead of me. 

Lassen Peak

The morning was shaping up as a nice and warm and of July day. The ground vegetation looked like early spring. The snow cover there has melted only recently. 

Trail

I crossed a little brook that was running at its fullest. I didn't need to balance on any rocks, it was narrow enough just to hop across. The vegetation on both sides of the water was green and lush, but there wasn't much bloom there yet. 

From the top of anther uphill ledge past the creek crossing I had a very nice view of Reading Peak, the mountain that was visible at the end of the long, narrow meadow near where I camped. 

Reading Peak

I could hear birds around me, but seeing them was hard. When I did get to see some birds out in the open, they were sticking to the shadows, perhaps strategically so. 

American Robin

Shadow Lake is the biggest f the high lakes of Lassen Volcanic NP. It too was very calm and I couldn't spot any waterfowl on the lake's surface. I waved hell to Lassen Peak, which loomed calmly over the lake. 

Lassen Peak over Shadow Lake

The trail follows closely the southern shore of Shadow Lake. It was the first place where I encountered snow on the trail itself. These snow patches were pretty easy to bypass, though. 

Trail

The trail curves north around the west shore of Shadow Lake. It also ascends the next ledge leading to Terrace Lake. Half way up the slope I paused for a vista point over the pretty, blue lake. 

Shadow Lake

There were more, and bigger snow patches up the slope. Some of them were on the trail and I had to bypass them carefully. A little junco bird hopped on the snow, unbothered by the chill. It didn't fly into the vegetatin lie the others until I was quite close to it, perhaps becase it was an inexperienced juvenile. 

Dark-eyed Junco

I was nearing Terrace Lake and at last I started to see a few other hikers, most of them descending from the park's main road above Terrace Lake. 

Trail

From the height of the ridge between Shadow and Terrace Lakes I had a nice view over Terrace Lake, and a bit of Lassen Peak showing over its northwestern shore. 

Terrace Lake

I made my way down to the lakeshore and found a place to sit and eat a quick snack just before the part of trail that was completely covered with snow. I was contemplating going on a bit further when I saw two other backpackers, father and daughter, that came up the trail and were struggling to cross the large snow patch that covered the trail in the west shore of terrace Lake. 

Terrace Lake

I could have crossed that snow too, but I figured it wud take me more time than I wanted to spend on this, especially since I didn't plan to go much beyond Terrace Lake. I finished my apple and started heading back. 

Terrace Lake

I made it quickly back to the ridge over Shadow Lake. Beyond the lake and below the heights of Lassen peak I saw the buttresses of other volcanoes, Hat Mountain being one of them. Below me Shadow Lake glistened in the sunlight. 

Started down the trail, descending to Shadow Lake. Half way there I stopped, gasping. The sun, hidden behind a tree, sent a river of light across the water. The sight was so magnificent that I stood there for a few long minutes, simply breathing it in. I chose one of the photos I took of the river of light as a header for this blogpost. 

When I shifted my position while walking downhill the river of light disappeared. Instead I was dazzled by a cluster of shining little light dots near the lakeshore below me. 

Shadow Lake

I had to zoom in on those little shiny fairies of light to make sure I wasn't imagining them. They too, disappeared once I resumed my hike. I don't know what caused this phenomenon, possibly water droplets hanging from some branch, focusing the sunlight like this. 

Light Fairies

I met a few other hikers on my way back along the trail. Most of them were coming uphill from where I started yesterday. Some where descending from the Terrace Lake trailhead on the higher part of the main park road. Either way, I was no longer alone on the trail. 

Shadow Lake

Past Shadow Lake I picked up my pace. Now I was going back, passing through the same trail I walked on earlier, seeing the same sights. 

Trail

Not exactly though. From the new point of view I did see different sights. Sights that prompted me to stop and take a better look, and more photographs. Like this snake-shaped snow 'river' on the mountainside ahead of me. 

I imagined myself skiing down that 'run' and smiled to myself. Even if it was an actual ski run, that slope would be too steep for my mediocre skiing skills. 

Snow 'Snake'

On my way back I also had a nice high view of the creek I had crossed on my way up. The water was glistening in the sunlight. I saw that the creek was much wider than it looked to me when I crossed it earlier, and that the place where I crossed it was actually a bypass on the side of the actual trail, which was flooded. 

I paused again after crossing that creek, this time taking photos of the downstream flow and the lush vegetation flanking it on both sides. 

I passed the no name pnd without stopping and continued on. Before descending into the meadow near which I camped, I noticed a pink patch by the trail, a patch I had missed on the way up to the lakes. 

Monkeyflower Patch

Carefully, not to tread on any flowers, I approached the pink patch and took a closer photo. Still, I'm not sure of the species. 

Monkeyflower, Diplacus sp. 

At the junction with the Cliff Lake trail I paused and thought about going down there again. After a few seconds I ditched the idea and continued downhill: I still needed to finish packing my camping gear and finish the hike, and I still had a 5 hours drive ahead of me that day. I also discontinued my navigator, which was running out of battery. The route I hiked out was the same one I came up on yesterday.  This time however, I wasn't fatigued and I had much better illumination to photograph the wildflowers on the way. 

Three-leaved Lewisia, Lewisia triphylla 

I reached my camp site and packed everything I left behind in a few minutes. Then I sat down on a log and breathed deeply for a few more minutes, inhaling the mountain air. Eventually I got up, hoisted my backpack, and started down the trail on my way put.

Cobwebby Paintbrush, Castilleja arachnoidea

Reaching the long, narrow meadow near my camp site I paused again and looked at Reading Peak. This mountain doesn't have a trail to its summit but I do thin that people go up there. 

Meadow and Reading Peak

It was mid morning and the light was perfect to photograph all the creekside wildflowers that I couldn't capture during yesterday's dusk. 

Alpine Shootingstar, Primula tetrandra

Of these wildflowers were the tiny Macloskey's violet, which were so well hidden in the grass that I didn't see them at all while crossing the creek last evening. I noticed them only when I came to the creek to fetch some water and by then it was too dark to take photos. Now I had the time and there was plenty of light to capture these little beauties. 

Macloskey's Violet, Viola macloskeyi

Past the creek on the dry earth there was much less greenery, but wildflowers were plenty still, including some nice patches of the pussypaws. 

One-seeded Pussypaws, Calyptridium monospermum

Once again I was hiking in on open forest, marching forward quickly when the trail was level, and carefully descending the trail ledges on my way downhill. 

Trail

I saw many lupine plants blooming along the trail, of at least three different species. I think the last time I saw the narrow-flowered lupine was also in Lassen Volcanic NP, four years ago on a hike with my family to Echo lake. The are of Echo Lake, which also begins at the Summit Lake trailhead but extends to the other side, was completely burned. 

Narrow-flowered Lupine, Lupinus angustiflorus

I was happy to see more of the slender penstemon that I've seen on my hikes to Snag Lake and to Prospect Peak on the two previous days.

Slender Penstemon, Penstemon gracilentus

The trees receded and I was walking on a thin trail cut through the low manzanita ground cover. I remembered from yesterday - not many wildflowers bloomed in that area. The manzanita cover was too thick. 

Trail

The trees were spaced enough for me to have a nice view of Hat Mountain.I saw its peak from the ridge over Shadow Lake. Now I had a better and clearer view. Hat Mountain also doesn't have a trail to its summit.

Hat Mountain

There weren't may wildflowers in the manzanita area, but butterflies were numerous. Most f them kept moving around a lot but every now and then one of them would pause long enough for me to take its photo. 

Blue Butterfly

Small shrubs of mountain monardella did grow here and there along the trail, exploiting the gap that the human hikers cut through the manzanita. The monardella was like a magnet to the butterflies. 

Tortoiseshell Butterfly on Mountain Monardella, Monardella odoratissima 

I came down the final ledge and right back into the conifer forest. I knew that I was getting t the end of the hike. 

Trail

There was no more manzanita by the trail. Instead, there were many other plants. I was on the lookout fr birds but it was a movement below be that grabbed my attention. A small toad hopped across the trail and vanished in a crack under a log. Not before I captured a photo, though. 

California Toad

I was getting close to the trailhead and the wetland area that was hidden behind the trees there. I knew about it because it was marked on my map, and also because the mosquitoes shoed up again in that area. Knowing I'd take a shower that night, I stopped and smeared myself in the one deet wipe that I had with me. After that I could take the time and appreciated the mariposa lilies that bloomed in small clusters along the trail. 

Sierra Mariposa Lily, Calochortus minimus 

Another flower that bloomed there in excess was the pinewood lousewort. This one is really hard to photograph because its flowers are at ground level beneath the leaves. On my way up yesterday I didn't get a good photo of that plant. This time I got an acceptable one. 

Pinewood Lousewort, Pedicularis semibarbata

I reached the main park road but my hike wasn't over. I still had to walk back to my car, about a quarter mile away. Not long, not difficult, but sow nonetheless. That part of the road has no shoulders and every time a car came by I had to squeeze myself to the vegetation on the side of the road. There were lupines blooming in the gravel on the side. 

Tidy Lupine, Lupinus lepidus 

The creek crosses the road near the parking lot and a cluster of cornlilies bloomed there. i saw them yesterday but then I was too pressed for time to take a closer look. This time I did. 

California Cornlily, Veratrum californicum 

 At the car I took my time changing from shoes to sandals and eating a quick snack. I needed to get back home and start getting ready for my next trip to Marble Mountain Wilderness which was planned for the following weekend. I didn't want to leave Lassen Park just yet. I sat there for a while, but eventually I had to say goodbye and drive away. See you next year, Lassen Volcanic National Park!