Even well into summer when I visited Lassen Volcanic National Park, much of the road through the park remained closed to await plowing of snowfall from the previous winter. But it was still a pleasant way to spend a morning, hiking in the woods around Lake Manzanita, and viewing the mountains after reaching the other side of the lake from the trailhead. The biggest mountain, with all the snow on it, is Lassen Peak, a volcano that last erupted a century ago.
My grandparents told me a simultaneously amusing and disturbing story from after they stopped to rest at a picnic area and I had gone ahead. A group of kids were playing in the lake when they found snakes to manhandle. The children started bickering over who would get to play with the snakes, telling each other, “Get your own snake!” Their “responsible” adult let this happen until someone else informed them the snakes were water moccasins and ought to be left alone. My grandparents left at that point.
