SmithTrip2025

Day 5: Tuesday June 10th

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We slept last night in Winnemucca, Nevada in a Walmart parking lot.

Isla wishes Grandma was here to go shopping with!

Today we are driving through the rest of Nevada, into California with our destination being Lassen Volcanic National Park.

You know in the movies when the character first sees a cloud of dust in the distance? This is the cloud of dust from a vehicle driving down a side road.
Lovelock Correctional Center. Looks like the movies. There are signs everywhere to not pick up hitchhikers and report gunshots to a certain phone number.
The hills of Nevada.
Islas soccer team’s name is the Sparks and we just drove through Sparks Nevada!
Goodbye I80! We’ve been on the I80 since Indiana but now leave it to get into some serious sight seeing!
Refinery’s galore!
Hello California!
Our girl Beth graduated from The University of Guelph! Proud Aunt and Uncle cheering you on from California!
Back in big tree country!
Lassen Volcanic National Park – our home base for the night!
Subway Cave

In the Lassen National Forest we found the Subway cave. The subway cave was formed less than 20,000 years ago. Lava from the Hat Creek flow was discharged in large volumes from a series of cracks in the earth. The river of lava crawled northward covering the floor of the Hat Creek Valley. While the top crust cooled and hardened, rivers of red-hot lava, insulated by newly formed rock above, continued to flow. Eventually, the lava drained away leaving a tube-like cave. 

It was cold like a wave and windy through parts of the tunnel. Definitely different experience than we’ve ever done before – super cool!

In the McArthur-Burney Falls State Park we hiked to and around the falls.
Tracy loves big trees. And they keep getting bigger
Looking for Reece’s footprints from Wild
Firefighters getting ready to head somewhere
Our campsite at Mazanita Lake Campground in Lassen Volcanic National Park
No one will believe this part… the FOUR of us went on a bike ride in Lassen.
The road from the North end of Lassen to the South end is still closed due to snow and the they haven’t got all the fallen trees cleared. We biked from the Devastated Area to Summit Lake. It was 11.5km trip. We didn’t see a soul outside of the parking lot.
Dixie Fire burn is everywhere.
What a gang!
Snow covered the road in multiple places
Bridge crossing
Sun and mountains!
Black tailed deer

Highlights of the Subway cave:

  • Joel: seeing where the roof had fallen and you could see the different layers of the lava.
  • Tracy: The only way you would know there was a lava tube there was because it caved in in two places. It felt like a privilege to see this part of this past world.
  • Caleb: The wind tunnel – in one part it was super windy all of a sudden.
  • Isla: When we turned off all the lights and it got pitch black.

Highlights of the Waterfall:

  • Joel: That Caleb was also out of breath on the hike (we are still getting used to the high elevation).
  • Tracy: How spread out the waterfall was and how bright blue the water was.
  • Caleb: Our hike around the waterfall.
  • Isla: When I was standing on the rocks and could feel the mist coming off the waterfall.

Highlight of the 11.5km bike ride from the Devastated Area to Summit Lake:

  • Joel: The snowmelt water rushing down the side of the road.
  • Tracy: My electric bike. It was magical being just the 4 of us biking through the Lassen Forest with the sounds of the rushing water charging down the mountain from the snow melting. It felt like Spring.
  • Caleb: When Mom passed me going up a hill.
  • Isla: Seeing all the snow that we had to bike around.
Stop motion of part of the bike ride.

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