Today we came from a different direction. We could see Mount Lassen rising above the horizon from even further away today.
As you get closer to Lassen Volcanic National Park, the scenery seems serene.
Our first hike today was on the Bumpass Hell Trail. It is a fairly steep passage. The views on the hike are varied. Some views are typical of the mountain trails, like the one below.
The trail is named for Kendall Vanhook Bumpass. He tried to establish a claim for mining the area. He also did tours for visitors. Before tours he explained the dangers of the thin coverings over some parts of the area.
Unfortunately, he demonstrated the truth of that on one of his tours and burned his leg quite badly. He was not able to do the mining he planned after his injury. This is where he burned his leg.
This is the atypical view on the trail. The aroma of sulfur and acid is very strong. You can almost taste it. It is not surprising that it is called Bumpass Hell.
There are warnings everywhere to stay on the boardwalk. With the steam, the boiling mud, and the smells, it is not hard to follow the advice.
This looks like it could be a nice mud bath.
The boiling mud and the sulfuric acid might change your mind!
The Lassen Volcanic Magma Field is one of the largest in the world. Bumpass Hell is just one of several places where the evidence is above ground.
While the area looks calmer from this distance, signs still warn you that the danger is just below the surface, so stay on the trail! Some people theorize that this area is the remains of a volcano eruption that occurred far before 1915. It is a strange experience to get this close to an active magma field.
The return trail sends you mind back to more normal existence.
Until you see this view. This is another caldera from a mountain that was once larger than Mount Lassen. Today, most of that mountain is collapsed or down in the valley somewhere.
This is another view of Lake Helen. Much like a duck, its calm blue hue belies the activity going on below in the magma field.
As we drove to our next hike, we saw more mountains in the background.
At Cold Boiling Lake, we got to hike through a recent fire area. The devastation of a wildfire is overwhelming. We have driven through several other areas where fires had occurred. Walking through to see what the firefighters face and how much damage is really done really brings the story home.
This is Cold Boiling Lake. The lake sits on top of a gas pocket that releases gasses into the pond. The water temperature is normal. The gas bubbles can make it look like the lake is boiling. Today was more like a really slow simmer. We finally found one small spot where some gas was coming up. It did not really show up in the picture that we took.
We saw Emerald Lake again on our way to the next hike.
Our final hike today was at the Sulfur Works. The hike is short, but the smell is strong. There are numerous pockets of water where hot sulfuric acid bubbles to the surface.
While we were there, some people were measuring the temperature of the water. It was 88 degrees Celsius, or 190 degrees Farenheit. Not quite boiling, but way too hot to touch. The bubbling is the sulfur and sulfuric acid gasses coming up through the muddy water.
Here is the runoff from the Sulfur Works. Want a nice cool drink of water?
After we finished our tour of the Sulfur Works, we drove to Sparks Nevada near Reno.
We passed by more wildfire damage.
We also passed by several dry lake beds. We could not find the name for this lake. There are many noted on the web. Some dried up long ago. Some have been drained by the diversion of streams as water sources for large cities.
Here are some samples of the flowers we found today.
We are spending the night at a hotel that is part of a casino. It is unbelievable how many people are gambling here. We passed on the opportunity to get rich.