Hi! Today we explored Lassen Volcanic National Park. Not many people get a chance to visit this park, given its’ somewhat remote location and the fact that it’s snow-covered and impassable most of the year. Lassen has the highest concentration of geothermal features in the world (including the world’s hottest fumarole (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fumarole) and the snowiest place in California (it’s an 11,000 foot peak with the park road cresting at about 8,500 feet). We entered the park from the NW entrance (which was closed up until a week ago), and were initially not impressed (maybe we were sleepy from the long drive through nothing to get there). We read signs about how the volcano (Mt. Tehema) errupted violently in 1915. We saw some volcanic rocks that fractured like puzzle pieces as they cooled.
Any misgivings that we may have had were soon cast aside as we made our ascent into the park. Rivers and waterfalls flowed right next to the road thanks for the snowmelt (It was 60 at the top of the mountain, 75 when we entered at the base). We saw a fantastic blue lake as we continued our ascent. Finally, we reached Bumpass Hell, the main attraction in the park. We got out our trekking poles and boots only to find a sign that read “trail conditions: dangerous” =/ I read online that there was still snow covering much of the 3.5 mile round trip hike, but the path through the snow was VERY well worn, so we carried on. Most of the hike was like downhill skiing without the skis. I guess it’s a novel experience getting to hike through deep snow in late July. Plus, falling in snow is a lot better than falling on rocks ;^) Just as we were beginning to doubt this endeavor, we were rewarded by some of the most bizarre sights one could imagine amidst 10,000-foot peaks and snow: the smell of rotten eggs, steam vents, blue (acidic) water, bubbling mud and smoking lakes.
The park has a system of board walks set up to allow people to get a better look at the 300+ degree vents without burning themselves (even though there were footprints off the path =/ One group was even so stupid as to have their little dog off its leash). A bit further up the road, we saw more bubbling mud and steam vents. It certainly was something you don’t see every day. We’re glad we decided to visit one of the more bizarre and beautiful National Parks.
Despite being tired, we decided to make the trek down to Napa area this evening to afford us a more relaxing day tomorrow. We stopped for Mexican food along the way. Tomorrow we’re looking forward to wineries galore and camping on the beach at Sonoma Coast State Park. Cheers!
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