Brokeoff Mountain - Lassen Volcanic National Park

Tamara Lopez and myself hiked the rugged remains of a volcano that once rivaled Lassen. Erosive processes both internal and external to the volcano have reduced the volume of the mountain significantly; but there is still plenty left for an epic hiking experience...and that's what Tamara and I had on July 6th. The mountain was loaded with snow, which I personally enjoy due to the extra dimension of complexity it adds to the ascent and descent. We passed through meadows filled with melt water on our way up, and then entered an obvious avalanche zone located on the east-southeast face of the mountain. After moving up through the avy zone, we reached a ridge that we followed to the southwest face of the mountain. We then ascended up to another ridge-line before finally reaching the summit. The views from the top are stupendous...particularly the unrivaled view of Lassen. We met a couple of visitors from Eastern Europe at the top. After a bit of conversation they began the descent down and we followed twenty minutes later. The snow was soft during the descent and we made quick progress back to my truck by plunging downhill and skiing on the soles of our shoes. Microspikes and trekking poles came in handy for this hike, but it's doable without at this point in the summer.