Day 34: Hike to Brokeoff Mountain

August 12, 2009

When planning this tour one of my goals was to hike to the summit of 10,457-foot Lassen Peak (4 mile round trip, 1900 feet of climbing). Unfortunately the Lassen Peak trail was closed 2 weeks ago because a child was killed when climbing on a retaining wall that collapsed on him. The trail will surely be closed for a long investigation and then eventual reconstruction.

My alternate hike is to the second highest peak in the park, 9235-foot Brokeoff mountain. It's a 7-mile round trip with 2500 feet of climbing-more difficult than the Lassen Peak hike. The trailhead is half a mile from my campsite.

Overnight the temperature got down to 48F. Not bad considering the 6800 foot elevation. Today's hike is much less than an all-day event, so I left the campsite at 9AM, walking gently downhill on the road to the trailhead. Then the climbing began.

Looking up at Brokeoff mountain from near the bottom of the trail.

Looking south from the trail, less than halfway to the summit.

The bottom of the trail is mostly in the forest with few views of the summit or surrounding mountains. The top half of the trail wraps around the west side of the mountain with views of the Sacramento valley, but no view of the volcanic peaks to the east.

Trail to the summit. Lassen Peak in the distance to the right.

The last quarter mile to the summit is on a ridge with spectacular views. Finally I could see Mt. Shasta. Visibility was excellent, especially considering how many fires have been burning in the vicinity. It took me only 2 hours to get to the summit (3.5 miles, 2500 foot climb). I arrived at 11AM and stayed there for an hour. From the summit I could see fires near both Mt. Lassen and Mt. Shasta. Possibly prescribed burns.

View of Lassen Peak and smoke from the summit of Brokeoff Mountain.

Visibility is excellent. Telephoto view looking north at distant Mt. Shasta (14,179 feet elevation) and another fire.

The temperature at the summit was 70F. The wind was amazingly calm. Sunshine, excellent visibility. It was a GREAT day to hike Brokeoff mountain!

Looking west across the summit towards the Sacramento valley and the distant Trinity Alps.

On the summit of 9235-foot Brokeoff mountain with 10,457-foot Lassen Peak in the distance.

On the way down I had a good view of Lake Almanor, where I camped the night before last. The hike down took 2 hours, same as the hike up because loose rocks require careful footing.

Lake Almanor to the southeast. View from about halfway down the trail.

I was back to the campground at 2 PM and got a sandwich lunch at the fancy little cafe in the visitor center. The remainder of the day was for resting and chores. Make a shower, shave, wash clothes, clean the chain.

The new visitor center is 500 feet away from my campsite. It opened in October 2008, shortly before closing for the winter. So for all practical purposes it just opened this year. There's no landscaping now but they plan to fill the bare areas with native plants.

Landscaping hasn't even started at the brand-new visitor center. Brokeoff Mountain is the peak on the left.

Today's weather was noticeably cooler than yesterday. High of only 75F, mostly sunny. This is a great place to stay 2 nights (as long as you're well stocked with groceries). It has cool high-elevation weather and an excellent nearby hike. The walk-in campground is like a park because cars are separated. Nice bathrooms. Visitor center and cafe nearby. And the price of the campsite is reasonable. All the stars aligned to make this a great day.

Once in a while it's great to spend a day off the bike. I didn't bike today at all, and after the 5-hour hike I had plenty of time to do other things.

Biked 0 mi.

Hiked 8 mi (12.8 km) with 2500 ft (758m) of climbing

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