Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Manzanita Creek Trail, Lassen National Park




Tuesday we hiked the 
seven-mile Manzanita Creek trail in Lassen National Park.  It is classified as "moderate" and climbs 1,110 feet.  The weather was a bit cool, which I prefer.  I left my jacket in the car and felt a bit cold when we stopped at the top to have a picnic lunch. Craig wore his quilted flannel jacket and ended up carrying it part of the time. 


The trail rose steadily thru alpine forest and meadows.  I have so many pictures it was hard to decide what to include.








As we hiked up, we were treated to an excellent view of the peak at right.  


There is still a lot of snow at the higher elevations.






There were also still some snow piles in shaded areas of the trail.
















Just before we got to the end of the trail we met a CCC (California Conservation Corps) crew working on the trail.  We think this guy was the supervisor because he wasn't working.


I've decided the shirt I was wearing is the perfect hiking shirt!  It has a nice pocket for my every needed tissue.  The fabric is a very thin cotton so it "breathes" and the 3/4 length sleeves keep the sun off my upper arms.  I wish I had another like it! 


From Craig: the technology these state guys use is not "high".  They look in the forest for nice rich loam, then tote it by hand to the path where they spread it to help identify the trail.  This guy is carrying a fair-sized lump of soil like a baby, and laughing that we're taking his picture doing it!




Finally, a picture of the two of us on the trail.
  
One of the CCC guys took it for us.


By the time we got back to the trail head, the pedometer showed 16578 steps and 7.06 miles.  That included a little from the morning.  I was down another pound this morning and am feeling really good.  I like the poles I bought, but feel a little like I should be wearing skis!


When we got back to the KOA we went for a nice swim in the heated pool.  It wasn't very large, but it sure felt good to just float around for a while!


We finished the evening in a traditional RVers way.  The neighboring couple invited us to share their campfire and visit for a while.

18 comments:

  1. !What a fantastic day! Don't you just feel great being able to do a hike like that and end up feeling good still. You've done so well :-)

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  2. I see a lot of folks using those poles. Sometimes in the city.
    Something to do with using your muscles to save your joints?
    Looks like they help in any case.
    Keep on trekkin'!

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  3. that looks like a great hike, Merikay. You are going to be ready for a nice long kayak!

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  4. I LOVE my hiking poles. love em!

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  5. What a nice day you had. I'm jealous!

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  6. Glad to hear you aren't anti campfire like some RVers. Did you break out the diet Sum-ores? :)

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  7. What a nice hike you guys did, and scenic too. You are looking terrific, and good amount of steps too!

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  8. What a perfect day and hike. So glad you were able to enjoy the hike, pool and a friendly campfire!

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  9. Merikay, you look GREAT!! I love hiking, thanks for sharing your adventure. I bought a pole last week too. I only got one, but it does help. I've been doing hiking on the small trails here in the woods. Although I still can't go far & do a lot of walking yet, it is still nice to get into the woods, explore & take in the wonderful smells & sounds! Saw two does the other day. I think the pole helped me mostly going down hill & up hill. My sister thought I was using a cane ;-)

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  10. Fantastic hike. And you guys look wonderful. I need to check into those poles especially for Jim.

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  11. Wonderful picture of you two intrepid explorers. A great hike for sure!

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  12. So, I want to get hiking poles. DH says, "Can't we go to the Goodwill and get ski poles?"

    Good question. What's the difference?

    Susan
    http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com

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  13. Beautiful hike. I just love that area and it always smells so good.

    Haven't those CCC guys ever heard of buckets? Seems they could carry more that way.

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  14. looking great Merikay and looks like you two are enjoying it all...

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  15. Glad to hear you like the hiking poles. We got some at a garage sale, but haven't used them yet.

    You are really looking good!

    Enjoy your trip.

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  16. Moderate trails are too much for us, they would have needed to use a travois to drag us out of there if we had been on this hike

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  17. The difference between ski poles and hiking poles is the ability to adjust the height of the hiking poles in 2 different places. There might be more, but that's all I know. I LOVE your pics of this hike - and you look fabulous, Merikay! I admire you so much for doing these long hikes - when I cringe at the thought of anything longer than a mile. I guess I'll need to do some longer hikes this summer in Colorado. We're leaving the 16th - so that's when I'll start posting again on my travel blog.

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