I had visited Mt. Lassen Volcanic National Park in 1990 and had always wanted to return here. This was Bob’s first visit to this amazing and diverse park. We love it here!
Hiking is high on the agenda for this entire trip and there are so many wonderful and varied hikes. We started with the Lassen Peak trail, but after 1.3 miles the trail was closed for repairs. The views were superb but we were at about 9,500 feet and a strong cold wind was threatening to blow us off our feet. A nice ranger guarding the gate took our photo. We’ll have to come back and do the whole trip to the top another time.
We also ventured into Bumpass Hell, an area of bubbling mud pots, steam vents, fumaroles and boiling ponds, replete with the smell of sulphur. The hiss and thunder of the steam vents was quite erie. These thermal features are constantly changing and a reminder of how active this whole area still is. Mt. Lassen had major eruptions in 1914 and 1915, but it has been quiet since 1921.
At the higher elevations we encountered snowfields along the road and trails. Often we had to slog over these patches of snow even though it was hot and most of the trail was very dry and dusty. We did find several lush green meadows and fields of prolific wild flowers. Yes, “spring” has finally arrived here at Lassen in mid-September.
Lassen National Park is one of the few places on earth that has four types of volcanoes: composite, plug dome, cinder and shield. Around these various volcanic mountains are lakes, streams and forests of pine, fir and manzanita. We didn’t see much in the way of wildlife.
The most challenging and interesting hike at Lassen was Cinder Cone. The trail went almost straight up and was comprised of soft sand and cinder pebbles. But it was worth the climb! We had spectacular views of Mt. Lassen and were able to walk down into the cone. All around we could see the lava that flowed out from the bottom and also the painted sands that formed when hot cinders landed on them.
A ranger suggested we go into Redding and see the Sundial bridge, so one evening we did just that. They had a rib cook-off and free concert in the park nearby and we enjoyed wandering around. After dark we walked the pedestrian only bridge which spans the Sacramento river. My how it has grown since that gusher coming out of the park in Mt. Shasta! The bridge has a frosted glass deck that is lit from beneath and it is quite beautiful at night.
There are so many trails still unexplored here that I’m sure we will come back again. And we need to make the trek all the way to the top on that trail that was closed for repairs.
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