2013 北美西部行腳之四 : 加州拉森火山國家公園 2013 Westbound 4 : Lassen Volcanic National Park
由三藩市到火山口湖間, 我們在Red Bluff市附近5號公路轉入36号公路, 開四十多哩往拉森火山公園。行前做功課, 知道那裡有齊各種不同種類的火山, 但七月下旬景色没有太突出(没有太多雪了)。加上我們去的那天, 近公園南面入口的旅舘訂滿了, 只好轉住東南Chester鎮住宿, 所以在公園裡只看了幾个景點, 也没有時間行trail探秘就去投宿了。翌日離開前, 往南在Almanor湖拍 Lassen 山, 景緻亦不外如是。由於火山上山路迂迴, 車速不能快, 也就没再穿越拉森火山公園而直接由21A路北上。這裡就是所拍的幾張照片。
On our way to Crater Lake, OR, we took a break to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park which is one of the few places in the world where all four types of volcano, namely plug dome, shield, cinder cone and strato, can be found. After studied pictures available online, we have decided Lassen Volcanic Park is not that photogenic at the time of our visit, and the most beautiful Cinder Cone requires some hiking (time consuming). In addition, we were not able to book a room in the lodge close to the south entrance so we had to stay in Chester, a town thirty something miles south of the park. Therefore our visit was a very short one, we didn’t even have enough time to hike to Bumpass Hell. Anyway, the following are a few images taken in that afternoon.
海倫湖, 中為拉森峰。海倫湖海拔8,200呎(2,500米), 年降雪量達600-700吋, 是加州降雪最多的地方。其積雪量達178吋, 亦為火山帶所有監測站之冠。
Wikipedia: [Lake Helen, at 8,200 feet (2,500 m), the snowfall is around 600–700 inches (1,500–1,800 cm), making it probably the snowiest place in California. In addition, Lake Helen gets more average snow accumulation than any other recording station located near a volcano in the Cascade range, with a maximum of 178 inches (450 cm).]
Chester 鎮

我們跟據酒店客服員推薦, 來此美式餐館晚膳。 As recommended by hotel staff, we walked to this nearby Kopper Kettle Cafe for dinner.

…没想到入門處有大缸風水魚, 原來店東和厨師是老廣, 到此雪深及腰的不毛小鎮開業, 不簡單。…there was a giant fish tank at the entrance. I noticed that this was what is known as Feng Shui fish to the Cantonese. Turned out that the owner was a Chinese American.
From Chester, instead of going through Lassen volcanic park’s winding road where the speed is quite limited, we took route 21A to route 44 and headed to the Subway Cave.
Wikipedia: Lassen Volcanic National Park
National Park Service-Lassen Volcanic National Park
Map-Lassen Volcanic National Park