Lake Durbin- Bunchgrass Trail Head- Thousand Lakes Wilderness- Lassen Volcanic National Park

May 2015. This was a 8 mile, 4mile one-way out and back hike to Lake Durbin in the Thousand Lakes Wilderness. It was an adventure just getting to the trailhead, but if you want isolation and the wilderness for yourself, this is the place. We did not run in to or see one person after turning off the highway. The road is somewhat rough, potholes, and chunky rocks to fill the road. You could do this with a 2 wheel drive car, although I was happy to have all wheel drive. There are some roads that criss cross your route, but if you follow the directions (coming soon), you will eventually see a sign indicating the trailhead.

The starting point of the trailhead was around 5,000 ft. and rose to about 7,000 ft. In general, relatively flat, no snow anywhere, and easy hike. The trail was clear, wide, and apparently made for horses to travel on so the actual hike was relatively easy. The landscape was sparse to moderate pine and various shrubs with volcanic rock throughout, with a high sierra feel. The trail was easy to follow, had some great views of Mt. Lassen and various other peaks in the area. There were a good amount of fell trees over the trail. The trail took us right to Durbin Lake. We found a few camp sites around the lake and chose one with a great view of the lake, although more exposed than the other we found. There are large and well protected camp fire rings. There is a clear trail leading, I assume, to more lakes, but we were content posting up at Durbin and enjoying the weather, isolation, and scenery. No animal encounters outside of a wide variety of birds including hawks, woodpeckers, and some kind of duck. Fish were present but unfortunately forgot the fishing pole. The hike out was even easier and faster and probably took a little less than two hours to get back out.

Cinder Cone to Rainbow Lake to Snag Lake to Butte Lake: Lassen Volcanic National Forest May 2014

 Hike to Cinder Cone

 Lava Flow

 View of Cinder Cone

 Painted Sand Dunes

 Rainbow Lake

 Lassen Peak

 Butte Lake

This is an 8-10 mile-ish backpacking trip that can also be done as a hike. Very little elevation changes throughout the entire hike. Very unique landscape from old lava flows, painted sand dunes, pines tress, burnt trees, and many beautiful little lakes. Bugs were limited. We went on Memorial Day weekend and there were very limited people here. This is an underutilized gem! Follow directions to Butte lake camp grounds and you will see signs once you arrive where to go. The trail to Cinder cone is extremely easy, wide, and groomed (or at least looks like it). You initially walk along volcanic sand flanked by a huge wall of volcanic flow frozen in time. Cinder cone is a huge hill with a steep but short .5 mile hike to the top. Behind it, you will see sand dunes with tints of red. Since we were packing, we hiked on past and went straight to Rainbow lake. A little tricky to find a spot to camp so walk around the lake and you will find them. No campfires… The next day, we hiked to Snag lake and camped there. The water looks dirtier compared to Rainbow lake. Another hiker told us that there were leaches in the water so double check your body when you get out if you go swimming. Lot's of deer in the area. They came out at dusk and by nightfall, they had fully surrounded our camp and were doing strange things while we tried to sleep just feet from our camp and would not leave even when 'prompted'. The hike back to the parking lot is also beautiful, and you get to walk along Butte Lake which is blue and clear with one side being the lava flow. Very cool. The final push is a very steep incline but only about .5 miles before it levels out and you get to the parking lot. Bring 10$ for parking.

Arroyo Seco Gorge/Santa Lucia Trail- Ventana Wilderness, CA

Distance varies, your choose, we went about 7 miles. From the Arroyo Seco Campground (day parking is about 10$/day) you have two choices: walking along an old dirt mining road (lots of mountain biking backpackers) or a typical hiking trail with LOTS of poison oak. We chose the poison oak (: The trail is easy except for dodging poison oak with inclines and declines meandering around the hills until you meet up with the access road, take a left and you will run into an adobe hut. If you go to the left of this, you will cross a small creek and eventually run into a sign marked "trail" pointing to the right. We went left to follow the creek which eventually lead to a beautiful and secluded waterfall. We had it all to ourselves. I tried swimming but a little cold. On our way back, we discovered the access road goes for miles, not really sure where it leads but many mountain bikers and backpackers were going or coming from this area. We decided to take the road back and discovered all these little water ways where people were playing, floating, and eating near the river. We went in late March so there were fewer people there. A friend from the area says that it is more of a party spot in the summer so shoot for non-peak season if you want the place to yourself. The extra green lake is definitely not good for swimming or anything other than unique pictures.

Whiskey River Bend to N. Fork Quinalt Rd- Olympic National Forest- WA

After dropping off a car at the end point, we went to the North side of the forest to start at Whiskey river bend trail head. This was a four night, five day hike, although I would suggest adding a day. Trails are nice and clear, most camping spots had an outhouse, and clearly designated camping spots. No need to check in anywhere or pay extra fees although this may be different based on where you park. No bear box needed, although we saw plenty of evidence of bears in this area from paw prints to poo. Make sure to hang your food and keep out of reach of little mice. They are aggressive and will get in your bag when you are not looking! The hike was beautiful, moss everywhere, full of tress, creeks, rotting old logs, and lush underbrush. Very few people as you go deeper into the wilderness. The Low Divide was the most difficult with increasing elevation, snow at top, no fires at the camp ground at the top, and at times difficult to follow snowshoe marks on the trees. It will be helpful to have a map to guide your direction. We had to cross two rivers that forced us to take our shoes off. Pretty strong flow, water shoes would be best, we only had sandals which were not very effective. It sprinkled on us at times, but we lucked out for the most part with weather. We saw a herd of elk at one point the stampeded across from us through the brush when we scared them. You will find views that are wonderful and not seen anywhere else. Water was not a problem to find and can be filtered in plenty of areas along the way. The idea of a rain forest in WA is also strange and very unique compared to let's say the Amazon. Starting fires was tricky. At one point it took us probably over an hour to get a fire started with all the damp material around. Where is Les Stroud when you need him! June 2010.