>>2116396Lassen is great, did a one night loop hike staying at Rainbow Lake, also hiked up to an old volcano crater on the way, it had a small pond maybe 2-3 feet deep at most, but the water was cool and clean nonetheless with a rocky bottom. Make sure to see the volcanic attractions, and also make room to hike up Mount Lassen a bit, the mountain and the view are both amazing, keep an eye out for pika, and if you're a birder like myself, look for high elevation birds such as Black-Capped Rosy Finch and White Tailed Ptarmigan. Also some nice trails through the debris fields as well. I also did go to Tahoe on the same trip, mas Yosemite was closed do to fires, and camped at Emerald Bay State Park for one night, which was good for car camping, and had good swimming, but what you really need to check out is Desolation Wilderness. Hiked past Eagle Lake which is crowded, but good swimming, plus crowds leave later. Then went up to the Velma lakes, and camped, not many people, not a long hike, nice views/scenery, and great swimming. Did a day hike to all the Velma lakes, then to Dick's Lake, which was pretty cold, then up to Dick's pass on the PCT, which is a bit over 9,000 ft I believe, wild flowers and great views, if I had more time I could have gone along the PCT further, and maybe tried to summit one of the nearby peaks.
