Unusual National Parks Vehicles

As I took my hike up to where they were removing snow in mid June on the road at Lassen Volcanic National Park, I came across a National Parks snowplow:

National parks snowplow at Lassen Volcanic National Park

National Parks Service snowplow at Lassen Volcanic National Park

This caught my eye because when I was entering the park, I also saw a National Parks big rig 18 wheel truck:

18 wheel big rig truck for Lassen Volcanic National Park

National Park service big rig for Lassen Volcanic National Park

This got me thinking that with National Parks in the mountains to the sea and everything in between, there must be some pretty unusual vehicles owned by the National Parks service. If you have come across some unusual vehicles owned and operated by the National Park service on your travels, let me know about them (or even better, send me a photo so I can share them with everyone). I bet we can gather a pretty interesting collection.

Lassen Volcanic National Park Struggling With Snow

Like many of the mountain national parks, Lassen Volcanic National Park is struggling with the large amount of snow it received this year. I visited the park yesterday and most of it is still closed due to snow. From the Southwest entrance, the road is only open for about half a mile to the Sulphur Works area and all hiking paths on that side of the mountain are still covered in snow pack (you need snowshoes or cross country skis). The road is clear up to the Bumpass Hell parking area, but the park isn’t allowing cars up there yet because snow removal crews are still working and they are having some issue with rock slides as the snow melts:

rocks fall onto the road at Lassen Volcanic national Park

Even though the road was closed to cars, I decided to hike up to where they were clearing snow. It was about a 2.5 mile hike along the road without anyone else around (Protip: If you enjoy biking, it would be the perfect time to bike the closed road). As the road wound its way upward, the snowbanks on the side of the road increased, reaching as high as 20 feet in some spots:

Snow wall on side of road at Lassen Volcanic National Park

Truck next to snowbank at Lassen Volcanic National Park

When I reached the area where they were removing snow, there were 6 snowplows working feverishly, yet making extremely slow headway due to the amount of snow on the road.

Clearing snow on the road at Lassen Volcanic National Park

I talked with a ranger who said the goal is to have the road open by July 1, but I’m not sure they are going to make it. They still have about 10 miles of road to clear that is buried under 15 feet of snow. Caltrans has stepped in and is now helping Lassen Volcanic National Park try to open the road (the snowplows that were working while I was there were Caltrans plows), but even with the additional help they still have a lot of work to do up there.

For those wanting to visit Lassen Volcanic National Park, there is a bit more open at the Manzanita Lake entrance. Hiking trails around Manzanita Lake (there were a lot of people on the lake fishing today) and Reflection Lake / Lily Pond are clear and the road is open for 10 miles to Devastated Area (although the Devastated Area loop hike was still covered in snow)

For those interested, more photos from the hike

Junction Room Crystal Cave Sequoia National Park

After passing Emerald Pools and continuing to follow Yucca Creek within Crystal Cave in Sequoia National Park (CA), you soon come to Junction Room. This is the first large room that you come to in Crystal Cave, and as the name indicates, is a junction room that you will eventually come back to during the tour of Crystal Cave. The room is distinctive from the large rectangular rock formation in the center of the room:

Junction Room in Crystal Cave at Sequoia National Park

In addition to being the junction area of the cave, Junction Room also has a nice display of soda straws and popcorn cave formations:

Junction Room in Crystal Cave

Yucca Creek also flows directly through Junction Room:

Yucca Creek flows through Junction Room in Crystal Cave