After the hike at Chaos Crags, I wanted to catch the sunset at Manzanita Lake. And boy, what a treat. This is the view I had while eating my dinner.

There's an ethereal beauty attached to long summer days, and it's a nice sigh of relief to watch the sun go down. And even after the sun set, the beauty continued through the evening. The birds were flying out there to catch their food, while amphibians were croaking. The trees were gently swaying as the wind brushed through. The calm and rhythmic undulating waves lapped at the shore as they all gently bid goodbye to the setting sun and welcomed the coolness of the night.

The walk around the perimeter of the lake is a mostly flat stroll (unpaved) and works well for people of all ages. On my walk, I saw many older couples taking their post-dinner evening stroll while others brought out their camera to capture some of the fantastic views.



Below is a photo from the opposite end of where I started. Lassen Peak is the tallest peak on the right and Chaos Crags is the series of peaks on the left. Though I was hoping for some alpenglow delight, this gentle and delicate purple hue stole the show, as I watched the sky change colors, as if watching a dab of paint move across a watercolor painting.


















I can't say that daytime views are just as rewarding, but maybe in different weather, I'll see something different. The amazing thing that simply astounded me was that this happens every. single. day, and the colors are never exactly the same.



Manzanita Lake

Happy travels!
Cat

The trailhead is at an interesting location, with a slight turnout on the left hand side when heading to the Manzanita Campground. It looks like a random pull-out section and when I finished my hike, some cars passed by wondering what I was doing at such an odd location. (There is a sign confirming that it is the trailhead.)

The trail is relatively flat in the beginning. After a few minutes, the sounds of a babbling brook breaks the silence, as the water rushes downstream to Manzanita Lake. And I also noticed this guy heading to the brook. It probably saw me first and was wondering what I was doing in its territory.



Lassen can be hot during the day and Chaos Crags provides a nice relief to the heat as it's mostly shaded. Surprisingly, there are a lot of dead trees and chopped trees around, adding to the slight eeriness. Even though I started the hike in the afternoon, the shadows loomed large and added to the spookiness of the trail. There are also a couple of plank crossings, which I'm sure are more useful earlier in the year after the snowmelt. There's also no one on this trail despite the higher crowd levels at nearby Manzanita Lake.




The rocks are noticeably pink (not enhanced by my camera or Photoshop) and are known as dacite. So cool, eh?

As I made my way back to the first set of 'random' rocks, I came across this stunning view as the sun was now making its way toward the horizon.

Chaos Crags and Crags Lake
Happy travels!
Cat

This area is aptly named Devastated Area because of all of the remnants of the volcanic rock and ash that the volcano ejected on May 22, 1915. In June of 1914, Lassen began to rumble and tremble and continued to have 150 small eruptions, forming the crater until the volcano erupted on May 19, heaving lava, ash, mud, and melted snow down the mountain, creating a wide empty swath as the avalanche roared down the mountain. (Lassen first formed about 27,000 years ago as it pushed through Mount Tehama, which was 1000 feet taller and now gone.)

From this nice and gentle interpretive walk, visitors have the chance to see the low growth areas on the sides of Lassen Peak (where the magma flowed down) and get up close to very large rock specimens.


This red dalcite formed 27,000 years ago when Lassen Peak first erupted and was carried down the slopes during the 1915 eruption. (paraphrased from the interpretive sign)


Guess which of these rocks is new (some are around 100 years old, not the typical thousands, millions, or billions years old). Left to right: Gray dacite: formed when Lassen erupted 27,000 years ago; red dacite: from the same era as the gray dacite; Black dacite: formed from lava build-up several days before the eruption and shattered during the eruption; Light dacite pumice: solidified magma fragmented by expanding gas bubbles; banded pumice: formed by the simultaneous mixing of two different magmas: light dacite and dark andesite; reddish rock on the right: not part of the sign haha



This rock was still hot several days after it was ejected from Lassen. B. F. Loomis, who took a photo of this same rock labeling it "hot rock," took many photographs documenting the eruption, and also helped establish Lassen Volcanic National Park.

The different colorations of in the rock are 'quenched blobs' of what used to be basalt magma. When basalt magma mixed with the cooler dacite magma, the basalt magma was quenched, or cooled suddenly. When lava spewed out of the volcano, the basalt magma solidified and reamined in the dacite rock. 



These rocks were carried down the avalanche and the cooler surrounding air temperature rapidly cooled the rocks from outside in. These rocks fractured inwardly though not all rocks fractured because not all rocks were hot and were formed and cooled 27,000 years ago.

Devastated Area Interpretive Trail

*I've come across many blogs and very few admit the troubles and faults that come with running a blog. For me, I haven't fully decided on a theme and layout other than sharing and documenting the travels I've been on. I also hesitate to include this post about Summit Lake because I didn't really explore the lake. I merely arrived, ate lunch, enjoyed the view for about an hour, then left (no lakeside walk). 

Summit Lake is a perfect mid-point between the Manzanita Lake Entrance Station and the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center. I love lakes and had to stop here for lunch. I also wanted to check out the campgrounds here (one at the south end and one at the north end) in case Manzanita Lake was full (I made no advance reservations). Some have stated that Summit Lake is very popular during the summer so I guess it depends on your preference!

The whole area is very peaceful and relaxing. I loved sitting at a bench enjoying my lunch and found so much tranquility watching the water lap at the shores while the wind brushed through the trees as they swayed back and forth. The warmth of the sun felt great as I basked near the waters after enjoying my lunch.




Summit Lake

On the map, I noticed that Cold Boiling Lake was another point of interest that was a hydrothermal region. Hm! And it's a short walk from Kings Creek Picnic Area too. The trailhead to the right of the bathrooms shows a slight climb, though that's the only climb on this trail. Afterwards, the trail is all flat. The trail passes through some wooded areas and an open meadow before reaching the lake.


Upon reaching the lake, there are lots of forks in the road. Anything leading to the right with a view of the lake is fine. When I arrived, the highlight are the springs, which looks like it's bubbling, but are really gas bubbles that rise from Lassen's hydrothermal system beneath the ground.


After stopping to peer at the quiet bubbles, I chose a place to sit and watched the winds blow the puffy clouds across the sky, listening to the rustle of the wind in the grass and in the trees. Off to the side, another group of hikers enjoyed their lunch and I watched some women appear admiring the lake before setting off to Bumpass Hell.


Cold Boiling Lake

With beautiful curves and jaw-dropping living remnants of the historical past, everyone can enjoy the 30 miles of Highway 89, also known as the Lassen Volcanic National Park Highway. Here are some fun places to stop at:

Emerald Lake

Lake Helen

Lassen Peak Trailhead

Kings Creek Upper Meadow with a view of Lassen Peak

Random spot with a view of the Eastern part of the park somewhere along Highway 89 (probably after Kings Creek and before Summit Lake)

Hat Creek Trailhead with a view of Lassen Peak

Chaos Crags

These are places that I briefly stopped at mainly for the view. I also noticed number markers next to points of interest along the side the road, also at most, if not all the spots above. See if the visitor center offers an interpretive guide of sorts.

A word on gas: Depending on which direction you're coming from, the closest gas station to the entire park is in Old Town, which is 14 miles east of the Manzanita Lake/North entrance. In other words, fill up on gas before coming here! Read more on gas information around Lassen, provided by the National Park Service.

Happy travels!
Cat

This place is aptly named for explorer Kendall Bumpass who visited this spot in the 1800s. He wanted to show his friends the hydrothermal pools and fumaroles, and well, he took a step, and his leg fell through the ground into a pool, burning at a temperature of 200F or more. Don't let that deter you from visiting, as there is a well-supported and solid boardwalk. I even saw people of all age groups (young kids to older grandparents) along the trail. It is very doable and very exciting to see the boiling water tapping the volcanic heat from the earth below.

The main and most popular starting point is at the Bumpass Trailhead parking lot (in between Emerald Lake and Lake Helen), though there are a couple other ways to get here as well (Lake Helen parking lot, Kings Creek Picnic Area, and the Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center). The parking lot has a pit-toilet, some of the first views of the expanse of the landscape, envisioning the old Mount Tehama and a glacial erratic. A glacial erratic is an example of something that was transported by glaciers from somewhere far away and sits in a place where it definitely does not belong.
There were a lot of people who were confused where the start of the Bumpass trail is. It is right at the entrance of the parking lot, not near the glacial erratic and bathrooms. (Also, people were saying that this parking lot is great for nighttime sky viewing!)

I started around 9:30 in the morning and was immediately greeted by a cold gust of wind. The beginning of the trail is mostly shaded and quite rocky, though relatively flat. There are several small lookout points and meadow offshoots along the trail.
Then, the scent of sulfur is in the air and the sight of the pools fills the view. For those who are tired, there is a nice bench to gaze out over the pools and also a good turning point for those not interested in heading down to be up close to the pools.
The trail is now completely exposed to the warm summer sun and the descent begins towards the pools, meandering through the hillside that's covered in baby evergreens and florals.

And then voila! A feeling of exploration and checking out the pools takes over. It's very cool to see steam rising from the pools, the boiling water (VERY HOT - do not even try experimenting!), and the sulfur deposits. The boardwalk dead ends at a beautiful green lake with plants that thrive on the hot sulfuric environment and then it's a return trip back to the parking lot. Some people noticed a trail that follows the creek that nearly parallels the boardwalk, though that's a trail that's not meant for people who are only visiting Bumpass Hell (the trail heads to Cold Boiling Lake near Kings Creek Picnic Area).



I have seen fumaroles and hydrothermal pools before, so it was nothing new for me, though it was still fun to be up close and check out the texture of the cracked ground and hear the bubbling plops of water and smelling the sulfuric steam.

Bumpass Hell
Happy travels!
Cat

This was my first-ever solo trip hiking and backpacking. I was filled with excitement with a modicum of nervousness, and when I'm alone in unknown situations, all my senses are heightened. Then it's a feeling my body gets used to and then I'm cruising alone, while other gawkers muse about why a young lady is off galavanting on her own.

After driving on highway 89 for several hours, I made it to the first stop of my multi-day trip: Kohm Yah-mah-nee Visitor Center. There is free wi-fi in the cafe, but there is no other source of wi-fi unless you're on top of a tall mountain (for me, my phone worked on top of Brokeoff Mountain and Chaos Crags). I set-up my tent just off the parking lot (where one of the campgrounds are) and nestled in for a nap.

Quick tip: I recommend sleeping or lounging around for at least several hours to adjust to the altitude of 6700 feet (or arriving the night before).

After a short nap, I still felt somewhat nauseous from the altitude change and waved it away because I needed to get to to the top of Brokeoff and back down before it got too dark. I headed to the trailhead and as I was lacing up my boots, I was filled with so many jubilant jitters! I could not stop thinking, "Wow. I'm here... I made it! My first hike of my first solo camping trip!"

Brokeoff Mountain, as its name implies is part of the historic (already eroded) Mount Tehama andesitic stratovolcano. How very cool.

The trail begins winding through some tall grass, and quickly transitions to a wooded area.
Some small ponds appear (looking more like an oversaturated meadow), though I am sure it looks more like a lake in non-drought years. As I'm taking pictures, I hear loud voices and chat with a group of people who tell me that they just came down from the peak and that I'll be the only person at the top. (I later find out that Lassen Peak is a much more popular hike)

As I continued, I heard the sound of water tumbling. Wow. In this drought? At a very minimal flow, I saw several small creeks converge into a larger stream that flowed over a steep drop and down into the pond below.

The trail continues to climb up and I see my first sighting of the top of Brokeoff Mountain. Woohoo! Now, the trail is mostly exposed and I see little critters and birds flittering around. The trail winds around the small field and I realize the trail winds around the slope of the mountain, taking me away from the peak.






I finally make it to the tree line and realize that the difficulty has just begun. The peak I saw earlier was not the peak and the trail actually heads west before it winds back east to the peak.

The last leg of the journey is tough, mainly because of the uphill climb and the elevation. The peak caps at 9235 feet and I am so overjoyed as I see Lassen Peak, the rest of the park, and a bit of snow on Mount Shasta. The views are stunning. It's so easy to spend an hour up there taking pictures, eating and relaxing. Don't forget to head back down!

On the way back, the sun was already behind the peak, so it's mostly shady and cool. A word of warning on the descent: it's very steep and hard on the knees. The critters I saw earlier have retreated to their home. I did catch a glimpse of several deer munching on some grass.

Brokeoff Mountain