Breaking In Our Boots

Takeaways: Checking trail conditions in advance, how to wash dishes without soap, and — the deal on water filters.

In the morning I woke to fresh sheets of dew blanketing the outside of the tent. Some splashed me in the face as I laced up my boots. The ground was solid and frosty, the grass more like hay, bent and frozen in all its positions.

We took our time that morning, falling back asleep until the day became hot, making a small pack of oatmeal each and cleaning our dishes in the rushing stream, hands turning numb afterwards from its snowy temperatures. We used dirt as an abrasive to scrub out the dried cereal, thanks to my last minute knowledge derived from a series of backpacking how-to videos on YouTube. I washed my clothing in the stream and left it to dry in the hot sun on top of the tent. Packing up that first morning took a little over an hour — a process we would perfect as the trip went on.

Trek Back to the Car

We packed in the heat and without much water, trying to get as much done as we could before settling down on the stream bed with a water bottle, two filters, filtering bags, and our 3L camelbacks.

Compared to water-filtering methods of previous camping generations, ours was relatively quick, but it still took about 30 minutes for us both to fill up. By the time we had mostly packed everything, we were hungry for lunch, and even more than that, we didn’t want to begin hiking only to have to dig for lunch food in our packs in another hour. So we sat down for a lunch of saucisson sec, focaccia, and gouda. The gouda was melting in the midday sun, coming apart sticky in between my fingers as I paired it with thick slices of saucisson. Focaccia bread made for an equally heavy finish, covered in cheese, peppers, and olives. I normally hate peppers, a fact that wasn’t lost on me, but that meant little when hungry in the woods.

We hiked back to the car, a short walk on the paved road we travelled a day earlier. Some of the snow had melted, but the fallen trees remained, and progress was slow while negotiating sticks and limbs with the weight of the packs.

We had a plan for the day, and it was getting late for all that we wished to accomplish. The first stop would be to get a backwoods camping permit, the next, to decide where in the park we could go for a loop-hike that would last roughly two days.

Our Trail, Day 2

Finally arriving in the hot little rental car, it was a 10 minute drive back to the Loomis Museum.

The stone buildings of the museum and ranger station sat like two weary soldiers among the scrambling tourists. As it happened, backwoods permits had been available all along — with a dropbox for after-hours visitors to leave completed forms. We filled them out, and asked the rangers for camping advice. I finally bought a copy of the Audubon Society Field Guide of California— we were off.

It was a 45 minute drive to the other park entrance when we started the drive at 2pm with a four-hour hike still ahead. The goal was to make it to Snag Lake by nightfall. And after parking the car and refilling water at Butte Lake, it was 2:30pm when we started our hike.

Finally on our way, the trail at first seemed easy. We kicked up dust with our boots and laughed through a brief pine-needle covered forest that preceded the lava beds. With the Cinder Cone looming in the near-distance, it seemed our hike may not take that long after all. But the terrain around Cinder Cone was deceptive in its first appearance. Small hills of sand became larger dips that burned our calves in the setting sun. We saw other hikers and grew hopeful that Snag Lake couldn’t be far. But it was much longer than we anticipated — on a path that seemed to be carved from waves in its hill-like regimen, and it was several hours before we saw our lake.

We were disappointed upon arrival to find a loud group partying at the lake. To put some distance between their site and ours, we continued on the trail as it wove around the lake, finally settling on top of a steep hill overlooking the water and far enough from the group that they became nothing more than a small echo. By the time we finished hauling our packs up the difficult and dusty terrain of the hill, I was exhausted and dehydrated. But the view, was incredible.

The View from Night 2 Campsite

And it became even more amazing in the fading light, as the sky changed its palette and the lake shimmered darkly in its depths. Stars appeared slowly, the campers diminished even in their echo, and we felt blissfully alone in the foreign land that is Lassen.

Several more trips were required up and down the hill that night for water. But each time, the view of our little camp with its lantern hanging from a broken tree made me smile, and the trek back up became a happy one.

Dinner consisted of dehydrated meals, which again surpassed my expectations, and we sat eating under the stars without the need for words. I tried later to pick out constellations — a past-time I’ve never had much talent for, and gave up after identifying the Big and Little Dippers.

Camp, Night 2

Not much later, the sky sparkled, and Lassen was sleeping. From under a thick blanket, we curled up with all but our noses and eyes exposed — catching and releasing shooting stars as they passed us by. But I didn’t make a single wish that night — as there was nothing left I could possibly wish for.

Takeaways

1. Checking trail conditions ahead of time is always a good plan. Either look online or call the park service directly. Had we done this, we could have avoided discovering that our intended hike was completely inaccessible and covered in snow.
2. Washing dishes without soap is incredibly easy. Using soap in freshwater isn’t good for the environment, so use these tricks instead. Dirt makes a wonderful abrasive for scrubbing dried food, and pinecones make excellent sponges. Splash some water in your food bowl and scrub using one or both of these agents, then rinse and voila! Clean.
3. Water Filters are necessary when backpacking. Make sure you buy something that you know how to use before you need it — you won’t want to be figuring this out thirsty. Also, always have a backup filtering option in case one fails. Pills make a good backup as they are light and take up virtually no space in your pack.

Thanks for reading. I’m Larissa, follow me and check out my latest adventures here.