If you’re looking to experience a Yosemite waterfall off the beaten path, Carlon Falls is for you. Situated just outside of park gates, you can hike into the Yosemite wilderness and never pay any entrance fees. This isn’t the biggest, or even the most impressive. If you just like chasing waterfalls, you’ll like Carlon Falls.
Boreas Gear, sister company of Alite Designs, is a San Francisco-based company specializing in ultra-cool packs and tents. I got the chance to test out their lightweight & minimalistic commuter bag, the Topaz 25, over the past few months.
I’m not quite sure why it’s taken me so long to write about Icebreaker’s Tech T Lite. This shirt is a staple in my closet. It goes everywhere. Not the same one though, at least not usually.
Made of 150gm merino wool like the Icebreaker Aero Tank, the Tech T Lite lives up to its name! This can be layered other clothes or worn on its own. The idea of wearing multiple t-shirts on top of each other has never appealed to me, so this one braves the world solo.
As with all merino wool apparel, it wicks moisture to keep you cool and keeps you warm even when wet. The anti-odor and anti-bacterial properties allow you to wear this over, and over, and over again without constant washing. Despite the thinner material, my older shirts that I’ve owned for a year and counting are still going strong. No holes, rips, tears or stains.
The shirts are incredibly versatile and not technical looking so they accompany me everywhere, even to work. I’ve also worn the shirts several days in a row to work without a stink; merino wool really is magical. Each season the Tech T Lite is released with a plethora of colors, so it is possible to own a “different” one for every day of the week.
One thing that I have to note is that the sizing is all over the place. I have a Small that fits like an extra small, two Smalls that fit like mediums, and a Small that fits like a combination of the two (small?).
The Tech T Lite at full price is a little expensive, but as summer comes to an end, these are beginning to be marked down at 30% off and more. The price is still a slightly steep for a shirt, but these have been worth their weight in gold time and time again.
Hike: Cold Boiling Lake
Where: Lassen Volcanic National Park
Trailhead: Kings Creek Picnic Area
Level: Easy
Duration: 45 minutes
Length: 1.4 miles out and back
Gear: Icebreaker Aero Tank, Outdoor Research Turbine Shorts, Boreas Topaz 25, and Ahnu Sugarpine Waterproof Boot
Cost of Parking: Free
Cold Boiling Lake is one of those things that sounded cooler on the map than it did in person. Located near Bumpass Hell, the lake is a part of the active geothermal system in Lassen National Park. The lake gets its name from the cold carbon dioxide bubbles rising to the top giving the appearance of a boiling lake.
The trail out to the lake from the Kings Creek Picnic Area is relatively flat and well marked. The lake is fairly small in size and easy to miss if you’re not looking for it specifically. This was a hike that I definitely could have skipped, or extended by heading down to Crumbaugh Lake as well. It was pretty underwhelming. I could see a few bubbles here and there, and that was about it. This isn’t something that you’re completely missing out on if you never see it. I opted not to continue on since I had just tackled the Kings Creek Falls loop.
An alternate route to get to Cold Boiling Lake would be by way of Bumpass Hell, taking the trail about a mile and a half away from the boardwalk area to the lake.
Hike: Cinder Cone
Where: Lassen Volcanic National Park
Trailhead: Butte Lake
Level: Moderate
Duration: 2.5 hours
Length: 5 miles out and back
Gear: Icebreaker Tech T Lite shirt, Outdoor Research Turbine Shorts, Boreas Topaz 25, and Ahnu Sugarpine Waterproof Boot
Cost of Parking: Free ($10 to enter park)
The last time I tried to tackle the Cinder Cone was exactly a month ago, and my attempt failed. This time, we started from the Butte Lake trailhead which lead to a much shorter approach. Due to an accident on I-5 the night before, we got into camp extremely late and needed to be home that evening. We had to cut our hike short and only ended up going to the Cinder Cone instead of doing the full loop to Snag Lake and to Butte Lake.
This is a hike where gaiters would come in extremely handy. The entire trail, especially on the way up the Cinder Cone, is fine bits of loose gravel and cinders. If you’re an enthusiastic hiker like myself, you end up kicking a ton of sediment and rocks into your shoes. That being said, the trail is very moderate up until you reach the Cinder Cone. The climb is only 800 feet, but the loose cinder bits and pieces makes you feel like you’re slogging up a mountain of sand as you sink and slip with every step.
Despite the less than delightful trail up, the view from the top is unbeatable. You can wave to Mt. Lassen, Butte Lake and Snag Lake. The Fantastic Lava Beds and Painted Sand Dunes are laid out before you. And you can slip and sink your way down into the middle of the Cinder Cone.
On the way out, we took the trail down the back side of the Cinder Cone and past a small of the Painted Sand Dunes. There were lots of signs that indicating no hiking and I was happy to see that people actually obey the signs. We then circled around the cone where the trail intersected with the going up trail from Butte Lake and headed back.
