The next morning, after getting about 10 miles away from the camp, we had to return to give back the bathroom key for the $5 deposit. I almost decided to forget about the money but the key was weighing heavy in my hand.

We then proceeded to drive towards Lassen Volcanic National Park. We stopped in Redding, about 3 hours away, to get some food. Every supermarket we came across was so nice compared to the ones back home. It’s such a shame.

We stopped at Whiskeytown Lake, which has a dam on it. We didn’t go see the dam because there was an accident on the road leading there.

However, we did come across a part of the lake where they had plastic “curtain” that held the warm water in the lake while letting some cold water fall through. This is because the Chinook salmon needs cold water to sustain its population. It’s a good example of a compromise between environmental concerns and the need to use the water to create electric power.

When we arrived at Lassen, we went to the Manzanita Lake campground and got a good spot. The bathroom was kind of crappy though, since it had no lights.

Our neighbors were from the Texas Christian University Biology Dept, and they had tents exactly like the one I went camping with then I was little.

This was the first site where we had bear-proof containers. The containers varied from campground to campground but they were always metal and had some kind of mechanism to open them that a bear supposedly could not use. We had to keep all food and toiletries (basically anything that had a smell) in these containers. Some cars had been broken into by bears looking for food. This was much different from the last time I was in the area (when I was a kid). Back then the bears apparently weren’t as bold as they are today.

After having lunch by the lake, we hiked a 3 mile trail to Chaos Jumbles. It was a good hike but a bit steep at the end. As we were hiking up a man about 40 years older than us ran right by us. I only hope I can be in that good shape when I get old.

On the way were lots of fallen trees with moss on them, and giant pine cones. We could see snow-capped mountains in the near distance.

Near the end of the trail, I looked down and see a small lake of snowmelt water and lots of craggy rock. We spent some time by the water, putting our feet in, then hiked back.

After dinner that night, we went to the amphitheater, which wasn’t too far from the campground. They were showing a bat slide show, and this really interesting ranger (Kathy) was giving the presentation.

The slide show was about how people should not be afraid of bats. The funniest part was a series of slides showing bats having different haircuts and stuff, and Kathy would say “if I had this hair, would you CARE for me NOW?” Uhm, I guess you had to be there.