We visited Lassen National Park on September 4th , 2015. Every thing was arranged in a short time and there were not many lodgings available inside Lassen. I kept searching and doing google maps for several weeks: but nothing was available inside Lassen park.
To stay inside Lassen park you just have very few options: 1. Drakesbad guest ranch which is in the east side of Lassen 2. Manzanita Lake Camping Cabins 3. Camping: These are only inside options: Nearest outside cities are Chester and Mineral:
So, we found a place in Drakesbad on Friday and another place in Chester on Saturday: That was wonderful since both the places offer some unique staying experience: One thing we didn't know that East side of Lassen is not roadway connected to west side: its like north and south rim of Grand Canyon and there are not many visitors in East side though east side has plenty of hikes and other activities.
This confusion was not cleared till we reach the west side visitor centre: We asked the ranger that "but our GPS is telling us to take a left turn here"...she told there is no left turn with a smile :-) We were not sure! So, we went inside the visitor centre and again asked another ranger what's the problem here? why can't i go to Drakesbad guest ranch from here which is just 10 miles away as per the map? This time she explained properly: you can hike there, but u can't carry all ur stuff and there may be beers on the route since not many guys are travelling that way...so, just drive another 150 miles and go that spot!!!
Plan B:
So, we needed to make dynamic adjustments to our plan: let's reach the Drakesbad guest ranch before sunset and have dinner there: before that let's do this 30 miles west side drive and cover as many spots/hikes as we can! At least do few hikes!
But the whole drive was scenic and breathtaking that we were late reaching the end, so again we changed plan and took a U-turn to reach Drakesbad earlier...since Drakesbad is not reachable just by road, there is dart road at the end and it might take longer time...so, we started driving fast! there was one spot just before bumpass hell where speed limit is 15! moment we noticed that, we saw a cop blinking lights on the other side! I pressed brake like hell and speed was still above 15! anyway, luckily the cop stopped blinking and passed by and we were escaped and could reach Drakesbasd before dinner time :-)
In chester we found this hotel:
Childs Meadow Resort
41500 CA-36
Mill Creek, CA 96061
which had very bad reviews in several websties: however, we found the place is fine, owner is really straightforward and location is just great.
owner of Childs meadow resort was a journalist: so, i asked her why don't you write about this beautiful place? she told us that was in her wishlist but her full time job keeps her busy...may be one of these days!
we also met two wonderful families at Childs meadow: one family was planning to do campfire and requested us to join..that was under the milkyway....we had a great time under the dark sky and millions or billions of stars...
(to be continued..........)
