Update

2015-09-26   I went up to Lassen the day after I arrived in Red Bluff. Because it was after the end of the season, the campgrounds were closed. I wasn’t going to camp, but it was interesting that the places were closed already. It had been so long since I had been there, I really didn’t remember anything.

 My plan was to go to Bumpass Hell and then find a couple of other trails to walk. That didn’t last long, because my left knee decided anything named Hell was going to be where it was going to take me. The knee hurt too much to do much walking after the Bumpass Hell trail.

It is a rocky trail going up to start, relatively easy up, rocky and, early in the morning, an easy hike. However, the down part after you reach the summit was a lot steeper. Which means, you get it, coming back would be harder.

Bumpass Hell (in case you haven’t noticed, I love the name) is an area of bubbling pools, farting vents and a general, overall, sulfurous area. It was named appropriately. There was a boardwalk, the last bit of it closed for repairs. I was one of only a couple of people there, so I was able to take my time.

I slowly climbed back up the mile or so to the top and the rest was an easy, not very steep downhill to the parking area.

The next place I went was to the devastated area. The last eruption was in 1916 and “devastated” the area a long way down. Now the area is mostly regrown and it is a little difficult to see where the devastation happened. There were a lot of big rocks thrown out during the eruption, a couple of miles from the mountain. There was a short interpretive trail showing the devastated area right after the eruption and some of the “erratics” (rocks that shouldn’t be where they were). Informative and hard to believe that it had been so destroyed.

Lassen was quiet and peaceful during my time there. The NPS and Lassen will celebrate 100 years next year. Should be fun!