'the southern Cascade'

- Mt Lassen has good snow coverage this season which is partly due to June's cooler than normal weather. The southeast TH area is particularly full, on the slopes facing NE and East. I usually ski the N side chutes, but I took advantage of the TH slopes. It is also possible to ski down to the TH (8,500) by connecting a couple dots ! Shasta was looking as grand as usual - and I was picturing Rainier in place of it.
    A couple other highlights included a nice fat marmot getting the last rays of the day, and a lucky sight of a broad stand of snow-plants. The snow-plants were on the NE side of the mountain at 6,000 ft. and the area was snow-free. The deep, vibrant pinkish/red color is quite a contrast to skiing a white snow-field. I hope to see them when I return next wk. Wikipedia has a nice description of the fungi.