Drove down the I-395 to Southern California. Stopped one night at Davis Creek Regional Park just out of Reno and another night in the parking lot at Manzanar Historic Site. Once the sun went down, it was really cold both places. Ran out of propane the second night and got pretty cold.

Top picture is Mono Lake. The picture below it is Conway Summit just before you head down to Mono Lake. Below is Manzanar.

RV’s seem to be back on the road in a big way. When gas was around $5.00 saw a noticeable drop in RV sightings. This trip passed a large number of RV’s heading north as I got close to Los Angeles. Pleased to see diesel at around $3.50 and below here. Hope the trend continues.

This was the first time I’ve taken the I-395 to the I-15 to get to the Riverside area. You avoid a lot of freeway traffic and get to go downhill over the Cajon Pass when going south. After the junction with the 14 near Ridgecrest there is a lot of truck traffic and the two-lane road deteriorates some.

Arrived at Lassen Volcanic National Park via the Southwest Entrance Station. The road through it is narrow and curvy with a 35 mph speed limit. You are quickly up to more than 8,500 feet at the summit, where there is still snow. You descend down past the melting snow and eventually reach Manzanita Lake Campground at 5,900 feet. This is one of two campsites available for rv’s and where I stayed. Manzanita Lake is pictured above.

Lassen Peak is a dormant volcano that erupted in 1914-1915. It gives you an idea of what Mt. St. Helens might look like in time.

A vista seen as you leave the summit.

Lassen Peak with Lake Helen (with melting ice) in the forground. You can climb a 5 mile trail to the top of Lasen Peak, but it takes 4-5 hours and is listed as “difficult”.

A meadow with melting snow and a stream running through it.

Looking up at Lassen Peak from around 3 miles (as a crow flys).

A nice weekend camping setup seen in Manzanita Lake Campground.

Getting there: From Mono Lake I went on to Reno for a few days and then to a Plumas National Forest campground. I was having computer problems and wanted to take it in to the genius bar at the Apple Store in Reno. Turned out my keyboard was the culprit. Glad it was so simple and not something major.

Spanish Creek Campground in Plumas National Forest was beautiful. It was nicely paved and my campsite had a trail that went along the creek. What most impressed me though were the songbirds. They were singing non-stop during the day. Unfortunately, they mostly stayed high up in the trees so you could not see them. With the sounds of the birds and the creek, and the smell of pine with beautiful weather, it was really nice.

Noticed that the forest in Plumas National Forest was more dense that the forests in Modoc and Klamath National Forests. In Modoc and Klamath they selectively log trees, to give a more airy look that you can walk through (see picture above of campground). In Plumas it would be hard to walk through the forest.