Lassen Volcanic National Park

This was another park we had never heard of, and almost passed by. It was not a spectacular park, but well worth seeing. The drive down from Redding, CA, was what I would have to describe as "different". Most of the way (once we were off the interstate) passed through golden-colored grasses interspersed with what appeared to be volcanic rock (LOTS of rock) and unknown trees, which may or may not have been olive. It was not a classically beautiful landscape, but was somehow very appealing.

We entered Lassen via the southwest entrance and headed for the Visitor Center. The building was quite nice, obviously new, but rustic in appearance. The peaks of the park- Lassen, Brokeoff, Pilot Pinnacle, and Mount Diller were all visible from the center. Lassen Volcanic NP is one of the few locations in the world where there are all four types of volcanoes in one geographic area. (I won't bore you with the detail- you'd have to be a real geology freak to want to know....) Lassen, the primary volcanic peak in the park, last erupted in 1915 when it blew a huge mushroom shaped cloud over 30,000 feet in the air. It was made a National Park in 1916, and is one of our active volcanoes- part of the Pacific Ring of Fire.

We had lunch in the attractive, reasonably-priced snack bar, which was quite good, than headed up to the Sulphur Works. This park is similar to Yellowstone, in that it has several still active thermal locations, of which this is one. It is a steaming fumarole with a very strong sulphur smell. We had been told that the Bumpass Hell trail was a good, moderate hike. The trail went into an active thermal site, reminiscent of parts of Yellowstone. In fact, one woman we met as she was walking out said, if we had been to Yellowstone, it was just one small corner. We decided it was worth going to see. The trail was almost 1 1/2 miles, with a moderate change in trail elevation. It was also at 8000+ feet, so the change in elevation of the trail seemed a little more pronounced.

The site was small but impressive. There were several boiling mud pots (which we had missed at Yellowstone), a few hot springs, and a very impressive steam vent. After returning from the hike, we drove a few other areas of the park, stopping at the base of Lassen mountain. It looms steeply over the lot, 10,457 in elevation. The main trail, which is one of the more rigorous and popular in the park, was closed. As we were wondering why, we saw a notice indicating a family that had been hiking the trail the previous week had been caught in a rock slide, resulting in the death of one child and injury to a second. The tragedy was being investigated. It is sad to think a family, out for a days', fun, could have such a terrible thing happen.

We stopped at several other locations- a lovely meadow, and a beautiful, ink blue lake called Lake Helen (named for my mother??) There were also several areas that were amazing. There were rocks, rocks, scattered everywhere, either blown from the volcano or left by the glacier. For such a small park, (106,372 acres), the terrain was very varied.

The animal sitings on this trip were good. On the Bumpass Hell trail we spotted a marmot, which is a groundhog sized creature that lives at high elevations. Our only other encounter with a marmot was in Rocky Mountain NP 2 years ago. This one was much closer, so we got a very good look at him. The other creature we saw we initially mistook for a chipmunk. He had more gray in his coat, and was more the size of a red squirrel. We found out he was a Lesser chipmunk. ("Lesser" when he was bigger?)

Overall we felt this park with its thermal activity and beautiful scenery, although not as spectacular as some, was definitely worth visiting.

Tomorrow, we are on to one of the "Big Ones"- Yosemite.