Lassen Peak

Dates: March 20-21, 2009 Duration: 2 days, 1 night Mileage: ~5 miles each day Group Members: Nick McGuire, Michael Ahlmann Pack Weights: Nick (50+ lbs), Michael (unknown) Contacts: Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center - Southwest Park Entrance, Hwy 89 (530)-595-4480 Notes: This trip was supposed to be another summit attempt on Lassen but due to a storm system forcasted to move in on the 2nd day we shortened the trip to a simple snow camping outing to test out some new gear and get some ice ax and crampon practice in. Day 1: (~5 miles) Left the Lassen Nat. Park visitor center (Elevation: ~6700 ft) at 9:40AM and snowshoed up the road (Hwy 89) for a couple miles before taking the Ranger Cutoff. We then continued along the road for a ways before going cross-country again, past Emerald Lake, to the shores of Lake Helen which we reached just before noon. There was a lot more snow on the road compared to January. Set up base camp (Elevation: ~8200 ft) near some trees along the western shore and dug into a hillside to make a tent platform and a small kitchen area. Ate lunch and then Mike took a nap for half an hour since he had a bit of a headache while I finished setting up camp and guying-out the tent. At around 3PM we went exploring to try and find a shaded steep slope to practice our ice ax and crampon skills. Found a couple decent ones near the parking lot beneath the peak where we could practice traversing, self-arresting and glissading. Hiked back to camp and relaxed for a bit. I walked over to Lake Helen and dug through the snow to try and find the ice layer which was about 60 cm down. Made dinner a little after 6PM....got dark a little after 7. Our neighbors to the west had brought some fireworks which they set off once it got dark which provided some brief entertainment. Not too cold that evening and definitely warm inside the sleeping back & tent....slept in shorts, thermal top and socks....left all the vents in the tent open. Day 2: (~ 5 miles) Woke up a little after 7AM and made breakfast. Broke camp and packed up, leaving by about a quarter to 10AM. Weather still fair but lots of clouds now in the sky. Not to far down the road it began to snow although it was pretty much just flurries. Over time the amount of snowfall increased. Decided to stay on the road instead of taking the Ranger Cutoff...snowing quite a bit at this point and visibility starting to decrease to less than 2000 ft. Came across a pair of small slough avalanches just before reaching the first turnoff for the Ranger Cutoff. Debris ran out just a few feet into the road and was only about 1.5 ft deep. Slides had started 50 to 100 feet up the slope and the debris was already very solid by the time we came across it. Snow definitely coming down pretty strong at this point....visibility limited to a couple hundred feet or less at times. Made it back down to the visitor center just before noon.