April 27, 2001, Lassen Volcanic National Park

We entered the Southwest entrance and drove to the gate at Sulphur Works, although the road was plowed beyond the gate. It was a sunny day and we climbed towards Mont Diller and Pilot Pinnacle. There was good coverage and corn snow. This was our first trip to Lassen so I don't have a reference point on the snowpack. We descended our climbing route and then climbed Diamond Peak and descnded the ridge to the road. At 4pm, they unlocked the gate at Sulphur Works and we drove to the next gate at the parking area for Bumpass Hell. The south side of Lassen Peak still head sufficient coverage. We decided to return in the morning to ski Lassen Peak so we spent the night and camped lower down in our campervan. During the evening a major storm moved in and it began snowing, blowing and visibility was minimal - not the spring conditions we had hoped for. So, we left and headed for the Cascades.

David "Zap" Czaplicki