Camping in California Part III

After fleeing Yosemite, we drove and drove and drove and finally got a hotel room far north, having changed our plans to Lassen Volcanic National Park. The rest of my family had been there years ago while I was in the army, so I was looking forward to getting to see it too.

It turned out to be a wonderful place, full of great views, interesting things like boiling mud pots and steaming fumeroles. We went on several beautiful hikes and while I hated our campsite - it was in the middle of the campground and I felt like we were in a fishbowl - the park itself was far better than Yosemite. My favorite part was getting my mom to go with my sister and I on an actual hike. She's diabetic and out of shape, afraid of heights and totally lacking in confidence in her abilities. The hike we went on was intimidatingly called Bumpass Hell. It lead to a thin part of the volcano where steaming holes of boiling water, acid and sulphur are visible. It was named after a guide who lost his leg when he stepped through the surface into a pit of boiling water. Mom was in full freakout mode when we had to cross patches of slippery snow, having just seen a bunch of signs warning, essentially, "Boiling water! Acid! Boiling acid! Do not leave the trail!!!!!" She did fine and I think she may have even enjoyed herself a bit. The end of the trail was totally worth it for me, being right next to all that crazy volcanic stuff.

I took a million pictures, but I'll spare you and only post a few.


Mt. Lassen, as seen from the Devastated Area. As the name implies, when the volcano exploded in 1915, this area took the brunt of it.

A moderately sized rock. How'd you like to see this thing flying in the air!

I forget the type of fracture this is called, but you can clearly see that the rock pieces fit together. Apparently volcanoes are hot.

Beautiful lake, Helen I think the name is. While we were on the Bumpass Hell hike, dad took the dog for a swim. Illegally, as it turned out since dogs were banned from swimming anywhere in the park. Whatever, it was too hot for a dog to hang out in the parking lot.

Boiling mudpot next to the main road through the park. There were a bunch of kids here and one of them said, "Ewww! It smells like Grandpa's farts!"

The view at the beginning of the Bumpass Hell trail. Beautiful meadow with a meandering stream.

Bumpass Hell! The next couple of photos are from there too.


This pond was at the very end of the boardwalk of Bumpass Hell. The pretty color is misleading, as I'm pretty sure it's some sort of horrible acid.