Camping in Lassen
| After the hike up half dome, Joe decided to take me camping to Lassen National Park. Lassen Peak (pictured below behind the trees) erupted in 1911 and destroyed much of the surrounding land. Joe decided it might be fun to climb it. |
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| On our way up, we had to walk through a bunch of snow. Being from the Midwest, walking through snow in shorts in July is a worthy Kodak moment. |
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| This is about as high as it gets here. |
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| A short nap at the top. |
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| After the climb, we hiked to a nice lake and set up camp. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of the camp site and the small tent Joe had me sleep next to him in. Being the rugged outdoorsman, Joe knew how to properly hang the food from a tree so that the bears wouldn't get to it (and luckily so that we could get it down again in the morning.) |
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| I found it truly amazing that a sport dedicated to "getting back to nature" could use some of the most high tech devices known to man. You've got your water purifier, your tiny gas stove, your ultra compacted ultra light weight insulating sleeping bag made from space age polymers,and your 12 channel electronic Global Positioning Systems. This is Joe showing the camera his usual sweet smile. |
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| And then there were the mosquitoes. Boy were there a lot of mosquitoes. There were none on our mountain climbing treks, but once we were on flat land amongst forest and trees, there were swarms following us. Let's just say I'm not only making a fashion statement with those socks. We finally gave in and asked to borrow someone's mosquito repellent. It was the Jungle Juice brand which contains 95% DEET. |
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DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) was developed by the US government in the 1950s to combat the growing mosquito infestation brought on by the Soviet government's communist infiltration program. Only 1 in 10 million users of DEET suffer permanent neurological damage, making DEET by far the safest chemical developed by the US government in the 1950s. |
| Jealous of the volcano's destructive power, we wrecked some havoc of our own before heading home and taking long showers. |
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