Mount Lassen Hiking Campout, lead by: Robert Zhang, August 31, 2019
We first met at the scout house at 8 am, on August 31, 2019, before leaving for our 4-hour-long car ride to Sundial Bridge, where we would have lunch. Then, we headed on a 1 hour trip to a lava tube named Subway Caves. The hike was extremely short, going into a short trail into the caves, where it was chilly. The walk through the caves was also pretty brief, but it was completely dark so we had to use flashlights.
After, we drove to the Lost Creek Campground, where we would be spending two nights before leaving. When we arrived, we immediately began setting up our tents and setting up our things. Once we were done setting things up the first years worked on their requirements while the others could talk and play. After a while of free time, the cooks began setting up their stations and preparing the food. My food group had grilled cheese with tomatoes and cheese, which was delicious. After dinner, we had some time to talk, make a campfire, which we started with flint and steel, and also get ready for bed. At 9:30, everyone finally settled down to get some rest before the big hike. The next morning, the cooks woke up at 6:30 to prepare food while the others woke up at 7. The food I had was bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns, which were all absolutely wonderful.
Everyone then got all ready for the hike, and we went in the cars for the 1 hour trip to the Brokeoff mountain trail. It took us a little while to get everyone there, but we were soon ready to get going on the hike. The trail was near a really nice forest and some beautiful ponds. Eventually, we reached a wet spot filled with mud that we had to cross. The mud had some logs we could step onto, but they were quite wobbly and hard to stabilize on. We ended up passing with multiple people getting wet. About a mile after that, the hike began to become a lot steeper and had fewer trees for shade. My group had to start taking more breaks because of the steepness and lack of shade. We had to slowly go side to side until we reached the top which was amazing. At the top, there was a beautiful view of Mount Lassen, and also a view of Mount Shasta in the distance.
We waited for about 20 minutes for everyone, and we ate for about 45 minutes. After taking a few nice pictures with everyone, we were ready to go back. Once everyone arrived at the parking lot, we went to the visitor center, went to the bathroom and refilled our water bottles. We then headed to sulfur works, where there was boiling gray liquid that smelled disgustingly like sulfur (of course). When arriving at the campground, we had some free time before the cooks began preparing the food. The food I had was some tasty tacos, which really tasted good after that long hike. After eating, we set up a campfire to make some peach cobbler, and then use some color packets to make the fire look green, blue, and other colors. The next day, everyone was quick to get up and pack everything up, in about 30 minutes everyone was ready. We then headed to the car and went to a Starbucks to eat some breakfast, and then went straight home.