To Hell and back

When I left Redding, CA this morning, I wanted to get to Lassen Volcanic National Park early to beat the heat. I decided to tackle the hiking part of my visit first, while it was still cool. I arrived at Bumpass Hell to an almost empty parking lot...I counted only six cars. Bumpass Hell is one of the main attractions of the park, consisting of a 3 mile (round trip) trail to an area of hydrothermal activity. It was 60 degrees and sunny when I started walking the trail...perfect weather! The site was pretty impressive...steaming pools of different colors, a large steam vent and bubbling liquid mud, with the pervasive smell of sulfur in the air.

It was similar to what I had seen at Yellowstone last year, but still interesting. I got to talking to an older lady, who like me, was road tripping solo. The walk back up to the overlook was a bit more difficult than the descent. Not only was a little steep, but I had to contend with the 8000 foot elevation, which made the air a bit thin. During the walk to the site and back, it kept seeing chipmunks running around. One appeared to ask for treats, but Iike the chipmunk at Crater Lake, I ignored its plea. I DID get some nice photos of other chipmunks. I love seeing wildlife!

As I made the return trip, I passed a lot of people going in the opposite direction. Sure enough, the parking lot was almost full...I beat the crowd! I visited two other attractions at Lassen...Sulfur Works and Devastated Area Interpretive Trail. Sulfur Works had more hydrothermal features, but on a smaller scale. The Devastated Area outlined the history of the violent volcanic eruptions in the area in a half mile interpretive trail. My day done, I drove to my pit stop...Reno, NV. No, I won't be doing any gambling...not my thing since I always seem to lose anyway. Tomorrow will be a travel day...on my way to Utah to check out some of the parks there. There are two things I just have to do tomorrow...you'll find out in the next blog!