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[pct-l] Lassen/Burney area report

i'm a bit late with this trip report from memorial w/e, but it's still
relevant, i think.

i spent a night in the thousand lakes wilderness at 7000' on the flanks of
magee peak, just north of lassen and west of hat creek rim.  snow is solid,
2ft+ above 6000'.  i brought snowshoes, so it was no problem.  now, i've
hiked in snow in shorts before, i've hiked in cold rain before, and i've
snowshoed before, but never before have i hiked in shorts, in a cold
driving rain, in snowshoes.  the storm started late afternoon, and didn't
let up till about 7am the next morning.  but my new integral designs single
wall tent performed brilliantly.  did find i need to seam seal the internal
tie-downs.  but the fabric kept all water out, and NO condensation.
sometime in the middle of the night, the rain turned to a heavy snow that
would build up on the tent.  i thought this might impede the breathability,
but still had no problem.  three times i had to knock each side of the tent
to shed the snow, but it shed easily.  got about 6" overnight.  needless to
say, i had to use snowshoes almost back down to the trail head at 5500'.
but that snow was melting fast.

i drove over to hat creek rim for a short day hike.  at 4500-5000' the rim
is completely snow-free, and is blooming beautifully.  many of the
questionable watersources mentioned in the guidebook (little reservoirs and
mud holes and such) will probably still be in good shape for the
thruhikers.  the view from the rim to the hat creek valley below, lassen to
the south, magee peak and mt burney to the west, was fantastic.  couldn't
see shasta with the clouds.  watching the cloud shadows roll across the
valley and up the rim was great.

question:  when do thruhikers usually pass over the rim?  i'm thinking
mid-end of july?  there is a trail head with picnic tables that the pct
goes through that might be the perfect place to set up for a weekend with a
cooler of fruit and soda.

also of note:  hwy 89 through lassen park was closed, and probably still
is.  there is a LOT of snow up there.  hwy 44 was open.  thruhikers jumping
up to sierra city/belden are still going to have much snow to deal with.
more snow fell the week after i was there.  might make more sense to jump
to canada and come south.

i intend to go back this summer and get to the top of magee.  if i'm lucky,
the views will surpass those from the rim.  i gotta say, i'm so used to
central sierra granite vistas that these cascade volcanic landscapes are
fascinating.

good hiking, everyone...


mike
ke kaahawe   AT92 TYT94 PCT2000
mikeh@royalrobbins.com
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