Lake Helen is a
glacial
A glacial period (alternatively glacial or glaciation) is an interval of time (thousands of years) within an ice age that is marked by colder temperatures and glacier advances. Interglacials, on the other hand, are periods of warmer climate betw ...
lake
A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...
or a
tarn occupying a
cirque
A (; from the Latin word ') is an amphitheatre-like valley formed by glacial erosion. Alternative names for this landform are corrie (from Scottish Gaelic , meaning a pot or cauldron) and (; ). A cirque may also be a similarly shaped landform ...
at around 8,200 feet (2,500 m) in
Lassen Volcanic National Park
Lassen Volcanic National Park is an American national park in northeastern California. The dominant feature of the park is Lassen Peak, the largest lava dome, plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. L ...
.
The lake is located to the south of
Lassen Peak
Lassen Peak ( ), commonly referred to as Mount Lassen, is a lava dome volcano and the southernmost active volcano in the Cascade Range of the Western United States. Located in the Shasta Cascade region of Northern California, it is part of the ...
and west of
Bumpass Mountain in the
Shasta Cascades region of
Northern California
Northern California (colloquially known as NorCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. Spanning the state's northernmost 48 counties, its main population centers incl ...
.
Highway 89 runs along the lake's southern and eastern shore. The lake is named for
Helen Tanner Brodt who in 1864 became the first white woman to reach the summit of Lassen Peak.
Climate
Since the lake is at a high elevation (over ), the lake is frozen and covered in deep snow for most of the year. Ice usually forms sometime around October–November and remains until July–August. During winter,
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...
storms come in from the west and bedeck the lake with copious amounts of snowfall. Annual snowfall at the lake is around , making it the snowiest place in
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
.
The maximum average snow depth for the lake is , though sometimes it could reach over .
View from highway 89
See also
*
List of lakes in California
There are more than 3,000 named lakes, reservoirs, and dry lakes in the U.S. state of California.
Largest lakes
In terms of area covered, the largest lake in California is the Salton Sea, a lake formed in 1905 which is now saline. It occupies ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helen
Lake Helen
Lakes of Shasta County, California
Lakes of California
Lakes of Northern California
Glacial lakes of the United States