Setting off to Lassen Peak

Now, the kids will tell you that there was a grand conspiracy to get them to climb all the way to the peak of the mountain. The length is about 2.4 miles - about the same as the distance to Lone Pine Lake at Mt. Whitney. However the vertical climb is much more. The trail begins at about 8500 ft and ends at 10.565 ft. So that's a big climb up.

So I won't say I wasn't eager to get the kids to make the whole hike. I was. But I also thought we might not make it and that would be OK too.

There was quite a bit of snow to traverse. The ranger had said we might need crampons but we found the snow to be pretty soft by midday. Not that we didn't slip and slide a bit - but there was never a part that felt really dangerous.

We had to rest frequently right from the get go and Franklin and Samantha were both tired almost right away given all the adventures we'd been having of late.Read more