Bumpass Hell

For our second day of exploring Lassen Volcanic National Park, we started at the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center first thing this morning. M and J worked on completing the activity page for this location, while I stepped outside to snap some pictures.

Brokeoff Mountain, part of the remnants of Mount Tehama

Mount Diller (left) and Point Pinnacle (right)

Mudpot

Not too far up the road from the visitor center is the Sulphur Works hydrothermal area, with steaming fumaroles and mudpots. It is easily accessible from the nearby parking lot.

Why did the teenager cross the road?

To get away from the rotten egg smell, peeeuwww!

Driving further, we stopped to take in the views of Diamond Peak...

...and Emerald Lake.

Our main activity today was hiking to Bumpass Hell, the park's largest hydrothermal area. What a name! The story behind it is that an early settler, Kendall Bumpass, was hiking through the area and broke through the thin crust, scalding his leg in a boiling pool. Recounting his experience, he commented that his "descent to Hell was easy."

So, for our "descent to Hell", we slathered on sunscreen, grabbed our water bottles, and started the 1.5 mile trek in to see for ourselves. Even though we didn't have much distance to cover, the 8200+ foot elevation made it more difficult.

At the trailhead

It's like a mini-Yellowstone, but without the crowds!

As we approached Bumpass Hell, the sounds coming from "Big Boiler," the largest fumarole in the park, were really loud. I don't think this video quite captures the volume of it over the wind noise on the mic, but hopefully you'll get the idea.

East Pyrite Pool

As we hiked back out to car, R and I were a little concerned for the families with young kids we saw on their way in. No hats, not carrying water, and already lots of whining and crying... and they weren't even halfway there. Pretty sure no one was having any fun.  :(

There was no place to park at Lake Helen, so we drove to Kings Creek for a picnic lunch. After discussing it with the boys, we decided to end our visit to Lassen early. It was hot, and we were all tired. (At least there wasn't any whining!) After turning in their Jr. Ranger books and collecting their badges, we got ice cream from the Manzanita Lake camper store and then drove back to Redding.

After cooling off in front of the air conditioner in the hotel room, we ventured back out in the heat for dinner at Westside Pizza (which we devoured), and then back to the hotel to play with our new waterproof camera and some more Hearts before bed.

Tomorrow's destination is Six Flags Discovery Kingdom, but I don't plan on blogging about it since this post from last year summed up the park pretty well. All in all, a fun, quick trip! Here's hoping we can squeeze one more in before the end of the year!