Lassen Volcanic NP

What's that? I can go hike into a cinder cone volcano?  And it is only another 30 mile drive and 6 miles of gravel?  Count me in!  The campsite had no water but was a nice place and the pit toilets were clean.  Had a great hike and learned lots about the park. 

So what is it like trying to hike a cinder cone?  Well, first it was like walking on the loose sand of the beach and it wears your calves out.  Then once you start climbing, it is like trying to climb a billion loose marbles that constantly disintegrate under your foot as soon as you put weight on it.  I swear for every eight inch step I took, I ended up four inches lower than where I originally put my foot.  Truly exhausting.  By I just couldn't resist, and went all the way down to the bottom of the cone and climbed back out.  Whew!  Tough work and no shade, but well worth the bragging rights for standing inside a volcano!

The Lassen peak has an interesting history and last went off in 1916.  Thinking about it going off 100 years ago made me realize how young the area is.  There are some really amazing pictures from the locals.

Did a nice hike back into a geothermal area that reminded me a lot of Yellowstone.  Steam vents, the smell of sulpher, boiling puddles and of course, mud pots!  The original man who was taking people through the area for tours once fell through the crust and burned his leg so badly that it needed to be amputated.   Bumpess Hell was named for him.

I was tempted to try and summit Lassen peak,  since it was only five miles round trip, by my calves were still complaining about the cinder cone hike.  So I decided to save my legs for Yosemite.

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