Day 9: From Eureka, CA to Sacramento, CA

In Destinations by Ramble Love

We rested up overnight at the Eureka KOA and had a lovely time. After packing up our modest little campsite and hitting the showers, we headed out toward Lassen Volcanic National Park.

We grabbed breakfast at The Big Blue Cafe in Arcata, CA where Mark had vegetarian biscuits and gravy (a difficult thing to find) and Christy had huevos rancheros. It was delish! We highly recommend this cafe.

Big Blue Cafe

As soon as we entered Lassen we knew it was going to be a blast. We were welcomed by crisp air and Manzanita Lake, which is a crystal clear adventure.

Lassen Entrance - Mark Lassen Entrance - Christy

We hiked the loop trail around Manzanita Lake to  admire all the different views of the mountains and even spotted a few aviary friends.

Manzanita - Christy Manzanita - Mark Manzanita

Christy discovered her new favorite thing as we drove through the park. Feet up and taking a break is the only way to enjoy a drive through a national park.

feet

Every turn in the road provided a new place to scope out the scenery. Lush grasslands and crystal clear streams were everywhere thanks to the melting snow and fertile soil. Try as we did, we still couldn’t spot any bear activity. 🙁

Lassen views Lassen Views - looking for bears Lassen views 2

We did, however, make it to Lake Helen to admire the bright blue water. Looks tasty enough to drink…but we didn’t.

Lake Helen Lake Helen water

After our brief visit at Lake Helen we moved on to take a hike to Bumpass Hell. The trail is a moderate to strenuous (depending a lot on the weather) hike, but it’s worth it for views like this.

Bumpass Hell Hike - Mark Bumpass Hell hike Bumpass Hell hike - Mark

Hydrothermals all up in this place!

Bumpass Hell Bumpass Hell Bumpass Hell Bumpass Hell
We move on further down the road after Lassen Volcanic National Park and made it Sacramento, CA where we stayed in a cushy little hotel room for the night. Ahh…sleep.