Lassen Volcanic National Park, day 1
Trip Start
Mar 02, 2011
1
140
192
Trip End
Oct 14, 2011
Where I stayed
Summit Lake North Campground
Lassen Volcanic National Park, California
Friday, August 26, 2011
I drove from the campground to the Visitor Center, stopping at a lot of the overlooks along the way. I watched the movie about the park, looked at the exhibits and talked to a ranger to decide which hikes I should take.
The park became a national monument in 1907. After a volcano in the park started erupting in 1914 it was made a national park in 1916. The volcano continued erupting until 1921. Like many national parks, most of the infrastructure was built by the CCC in the 1930s.
I decided to take the walk to Bumpass Hell, a 16 acre bowl containing the highest concentration of thermal features in the park, which can be viewed from a boardwalk. It's a three mile round-trip hike, which normally is fairly easy but there were still snow-covered areas making walking a bit difficult in places. The thermal features include fumaroles (steam and volcanic-gas vents), thumping mud pots, boiling pools and steaming ground. While the features aren't as impressive as those at Yellowstone National Park I thought they were worth visiting.
I was afraid that all the campsites might disappear since it's a Saturday during what is probably peak season so I didn't do any more lengthy hikes. I just stopped at a few overlooks on my way back to the campsite.
