Leaving Lava Beds and the Wildlife refuges behind I headed to yet another super place made more so by volcanic activity..and that is Lassen Volcanic National Park in Northern CA. on the 12th of Oct. I got there early and enjoyed breakfast in the Visitors Center cafe. That was nice!! I found a penny pincher, my postcards, and stamped my passport and all that made me a happy camper!!
I continue to be impressed with Volcanoes and how they formed this Earth we live on....I saw another fantastic film in the VC media room explaining how Lassen Peak erupted in 1915...it was about the same type blast as St Helens only much stronger!! Then I started the road tour of the park and immediately smelled the rotten eggs of Sulphur and heard the hiss of hot steam escaping thru steam vents and saw the bubbling mud spit and spatter up out of the ground..Lassen is the most southerly of the Cascade Volcanoes...it was the last to erupt till St Helen's.
Lassens south facing ridge
Not since I visited Yellowstone have I seen this kind of activity...it really made me realize how active some areas are and wonder if we should even be driving around there..lol
mud pot
I hiked one trail to Bumpass"s Hell! There is a legend connected with the name...in 1864 a mountaineer/explorer named Kendall Bumpass and his partner filed a claim on this piece of land with the intention of mining the minerals and creating a visitors attraction.... in 1865 he led the Editor of the RedBluff Independent Newspaper up to view this hydrothermal area...
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| the Bumpass trail |
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| Bumpass Hell area |
So while he showed them around he stepped through the crust into 240 degree boiling Mud and ended up losing his leg due to the severe burn!! So now there is a boardwalk and even so some sections of it are closed due to explosive hot water geyser-ing forth..SO Mind you I stayed on the trails and never ventured off!
What an amazing blue sky I saw at Lassen!
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| Emerald Lake |
I wish I had time to spend a week in each place I visited in order to hike all the trails and see all there was to see...so I only barely brushed the surface of seeing the park...it's an amazingly beautiful spot...with so much mystery just under the surface.
An iconic image of Lassen is this tossed Rock...
US NPS Maps
Centrally located are a North and South Summit Lake Campgrounds..both were closed for the rest of the year...I was able to camp at Lake Manzanita Campground. It was wide open and we had nice spot...and there was a shower house in the campground!
I left Lassen on 395 S and headed toward Reno then picked up Highway 50 in Nevada...
This section of Highway 50 from Carson City NV to Great Basin National Park is 380 miles and called the Loneliest Highway in America...
...and there is a good reason for that name.
PEACE
Eleanor Roosevelt: You must do the thing you think you can not.
When we hiked that gorgeous Bumpass Hell trail, we just went to the overlook. Didn't really want to get any closer after reading about Mr Bumpass. ;-D
ReplyDeleteAnd now the upper section is closed for renovations and I think to make it safer as the hot water is bubbling up stronger than it used to!! It was a beautiful hike and I shared it with some interesting folks..one elderly Japanese man was quite elderly his son led him and pushed him and pulled him up and back the entire trail the whole family was helping, and the man was having a great time!!
DeleteMagnificent! (sp) check said that is correct ? Your pictures make it feel so real like your right there
ReplyDeleteThank You Jo! I took so many photos its amazing how many times one can click that shutter in a day!
DeleteThat Highway is something! Did you see any other cars at all? Your pictures are stunning. Fun to camp after the season because of no crowds, but you have to remember that a lot of places are already closed.
ReplyDeleteYes I knew I could be running into closed campgrounds...although Im not experienced enough yet to find good Boondock spots I will one day have that knowledge. I did have a couple books along but found them not really helpful my old Rand McNally from the 90's has ALL state, national, ceo, and BLM campgrounds marked on it in every state...IT ended up being my main squeeze!
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