Lassen Peak

Lassen Peak from the trailhead

View from Lassen Peak Trail closer to trailhead

View on Lassen Peak trail

View on Lassen Peak trail with smoke from forest fires

View of mountains in Lassen Park with smoke from forest fires

View on Lassen Peak trail with smoke from fires

Snow on Lassen Peak trail

Protruding rocks on Lassen Peak trail

Rocks on Lassen Peak trail

Snow on path to true summit of Lassen Peak

View of lake from Lassen Peak with butterflies

Smoke covering landscape viewed from summit of Lassen Peak

Snow on summit with smoke in distance covering landscape viewed from summit of Lassen Peak

Smoke covering landscape seen from Lassen Peak summit

Rocks, snow and smoke seen from Lassen Peak

Looking down at rocks, snow and smoke seen from Lassen Peak

Mt. Shasta with smoke under it seen from Lassen Peak summit

Tall rocks and smoke from forest fires seen from Lassen Peak summit

Smoke, rocks and snow landscape seen from Lassen Peak summit

Smoke covering landscape seen from Lassen Peak summit

Snow, rocks and smoke seen on path near summit of Lassen Peak

Butterflies in the sky on the snowy path from Lassen Peak summit

Mt. Shasta with rocks and butterflies around it seen from path to true summit of Lassen Peak

Smoke, lake and rock landscape seen from descending Lassen Peak

Smokey rock landscape seen from descending Lassen Peak

Dead tree seen while descending Lassen Peak

Close up of dead tree seen while descending Lassen Peak

View descending Lassen Peak

Getting To Lassen Peak From San Francisco

I decided to attempt summiting California's Lassen Peak on August 11th, 2018. To get to Lassen Peak's trailhead from San Francisco, I decided to stay in Red Bluff and then wake up early the next day. I headed to Classic Inn, located in Red Bluff, during the afternoon of Friday, August 10th around 5:30PM. During the drive, I encountered bumper-to-bumper traffic and witnessed severe fires engulfing entire fields. The drive was slow and smokey, I went to sleep without dinner.

Summitting Lassen Peak

At about 5:30AM, I woke up in Red Bluff at the Classic Inn, went to Wal-Mart for camping food and headed to Lassen Peak's trail head. I started hiking on the trail at around 8:15AM, right before the Reach the Peak Hike-a-Thon started. I reached the summit around 10:15AM. Shortly after, hundreds, or even thousands, of Monarch Butterflies showed up. There was snow at the top, and many people, including families, along the way. I enjoyed the short but rewarding hike with commanding views over the smokey terrain.

The summit of Lassen Peak had refreshingly clean air. It was noticably better than the air at lower elevations. Lassen Peak is 10,463 feet high, it's about a 2,000 foot ascent from the parking lot. The wind speed was about 15MPH +/- during the hike but most of it was managable with merely a t-shirt.

Here you can see a 360 degree video from the summit of Lassen Peak plus butterflies.

Final Impression

Summiting Lassen Peak was a relatively easy but highly rewarding experience. The smokey air, strong winds and butterflies made the hike a truly unique experience. The views of Mt. Shasta were elevating. I had summitted Mt. Shasta in 2016 and seeing it stand out above the smoke was a reminder of the beauty to be seen in the state of California. I enjoyed the hike and the people on it along the way.