Lassen Volcanic National Park (10/10/24)

 Lassen Volcanic National Park, located in California, is the 50th national park I have visited (there are 63 total)!

Of the ones I have not been to, 5 are in Alaska, and I will likely never get to them. We did go to three in Alaska, but the other 5 are much more difficult to get to.  Most of the other ones on the list are places I might get to- two are in Hawaii- and since it’s the only state I haven’t been to, I see a visit there in my future.

Isle Royale National park in Michigan is not high on my list of “must see” places, but who knows.

Lassen Volcanic National Park actually contains all 4 types of volcanos- shield, cinder cone, composite, and plug dome. The last time a substantial eruption took place here was over 100 years ago, but its a very active volcanic area nonetheless. 

There are many active and colorful boiling springs, steam vents, and mud pots. We stopped by one of them on the side of the road at one point and met a lady who said that 40 years ago the mud pot was 30 yards away from its current location.

When we looked online, the campground had tons of availability for the 4 nights we wanted, so we didn’t worry about booking it. When we got to the entrance, we found out that reservations are actually required- and the only way to make them is online. Ugh, and of course, we had no cell service here.  We stopped at the park store and  were told if we drove 1 mile up the road, there is a pull off where most people get signal, and sure enough, we had just enough to log on and make our reservations. That spot was pretty much the only place we had cell signal the whole time we were in Lassen.  Each day we stopped once or twice to make sure nothing catastrophic was happening.  It was a busy pull off and usually had a couple of cars and people walking around holding up a cell phone like a divining rod looking for water.

We had enough time the day we got there to make the two mile loop around Manzanita Lake, where the campground is. The views of Mt Lassen were awesome.

Our first full day we packed a lunch and drove the scenic drive through the park. We stopped to hike the 3 mile Bumpass Hell Trail.  The trail leads to and through a geothermal area with mud pots.

 We continued down the road to the visitor center, and on the way back we stopped at “hot rock”. Hot rock isn’t hot anymore, but it was, back in 1915. Two days after Lassen erupted on May 19, 1915, this rock, which is a piece of dacite lava, was still hot and steaming.

 

An avalanche carried this 300 ton rock 5 miles down the side of Lassen Peak.

Speaking of Lassen Peak, one of the hikes is a 5 mile hike to the peak, with 2000 ft of gain.  We really wanted to do this hike but we have done so much hiking the last few days, we felt we needed to take a full day off ahead of it. So, our second day in the park we did some house keeping, read books, and played cards.

It was worth doing nothing because the following day we packed a lunch and headed up the peak.

It was so warm when we got to the trailhead that I almost left my jacket behind, but I remembered a sign that says its always windy at the top, so I (thankfully) threw it in my pack.

The views started out pretty good, but of course they got even better the further up we went.

About halfway up, the trail became tight switchbacks.  One side was out of the wind, but the other end was unbelievably cold, and blowing so hard, you couldn’t keep a hat on.

At the top there was a pile of lava to explore, which we did, for a bit. We took advantage of the wind protection to eat our lunch.

Our stay at Lassen was pretty short, and we moved on the following day.