the hills are alive

Let’s say the four national parks we visited on this trip were a bunch of high school students and each one was awarded a superlative. Yosemite would win “most popular”, Crater Lake would get “most beautiful” and Redwood might receive something like “most well-rounded” (am I pushing this last one?). And Lassen Volcanic?…It would be “most likely to exceed expectations”. I had spent most of my pre-trip planning reading up on trails and things to do at the three other (more popular) parks and I must admit that I may have treated Lassen as just a check in the box on the way to meeting my goal. My dad and I were equally surprised when it turned out to have several amazing highlights. The park is only 50 miles off a major interstate, but it draws fewer visitors than some of the more isolated parks…a lot of people are missing out on this park!

As you probably deduced from the park’s name, Lassen Peak is a volcano. It is currently considered active and there are multiple areas of hydrothermal activity including awesome things like mud pots, hot springs and fumaroles. The last major eruption was 1914-1915, but minor eruptions lasted through 1921. The eruption has been particularly interesting to scientists because they have been able to study the recovery process of a landscape after an eruption for almost 100 years.

After making an unexpected and exciting (<= for my dad) stop at the Bigfoot Museum in Willow Creek (ok, it turned out to be a little interesting), we made it to Lassen mid-afternoon. We stopped in to the visitor’s center to get some recommendations from the rangers and they suggested the trail to Paradise Meadows. Because there had been record levels of snowfall that winter, summer wild flowers had bloomed later than usual. Just like at Crater Lake, we were in luck once again! The trail to the meadows was a moderate 1.5 mile uphill hike. The hillsides were blanketed in purple, yellow, white and red wild flowers. About half way up we heard running water and came along side a stream with several small cascades. The hike was leisurely and beautiful, but when we came to an average looking clearing we wondered if we had arrived at Paradise Meadows. Although it was nice, it wasn’t what I would call “paradise”. We decided to continue, hoping another more fitting Paradise Meadows was just a little further. Just a few minutes later the trail curved and to the right was a SPECTACULAR meadow…My first thought upon seeing it was actually in the form of a song. “The hills are alive with the sound of music. With songs they have sung for a thousand years…”

It only reminded me of my favorite movie of all time! The low golden light of the end of the day was shining on the meadow, covered in flowers and bright green grass. A shallow stream snaked its way across it. Now, one day I plan on visiting Maria’s Austrian hills (and yes, I want to do a Sound of Music tour while I’m there), but until then, this meadow should hold me over.

I continued to sing the rest of the song (background chorus included)…”to laugh like a brook when it trips and falls over stones on its way (on its way)” and enjoyed wandering through the meadow. I don’t know if my dad necessarily was singing the soundtrack to the Sound of Music while he was there, but I know this ended up being one of his favorite spots of the trip.

When the sun had fallen completely behind the mountain, we started the hike back down. We drove back towards Manzanita lake as the sun was setting and set up camp for the night.

The campsite had coin operated hot showers (is it just me, or does the threat of the water suddenly shutting off as you are covered in soap stress anyone else out?) that we took full advantage of and then turned in for an early night.

The next day we woke up before sunrise, packed up the tent and gear in the cold, dark morning and headed southward to Bumpass Hell Trail. This trail was what I had been looking forward to most at Lassen. I would liken it to a mini Yellowstone. It is the most concentrated area of hydrothermal features in the park. From the campground, we ascended over 2,000 feet during a 45 minute scenic drive. As we got higher, we were surprised to see how much snow was still present at those elevations for late August. In fact, the main road through Lassen had only been cleared of snow for a couple of weeks before our arrival! Right before the trailhead was a beautiful semi-frozen lake colored vibrant blue where snow and water met.

Although the sun was now up, it was still hidden behind the mountain, making for a very chilly morning at 8,000 feet. We bundled up in our warmest gear and began the 3 mile RT hike to Bumpass Hell. Parts of the trail were still covered in an icy snow that had been repeatedly warmed by the sun and refrozen at night. It was slick and I was a little concerned that we were going to deal with the icy conditions for the whole hike.

Fortunately, the really icy parts didn’t last for long and we carefully continued down the trail. As the sun rose higher, the snow was warmed and became easier to walk on.

 It wasn’t long before we had our first view of Bumpass Hell. 

There was much more snow in this area and we slowly made our way around the perimeter and down into the basin. It was a perfect morning…bright and clear and since it was still so early, we had the place to ourselves. Although the ground in this area looks pretty stable, it is surprisingly fragile, thin layers of mineral deposits. Steam or hot water can be just below the surface that can easily burn you. In fact, the area gets its name from  a settler (last name Bumpass) who lost a leg after falling into a boiling pool in the basin almost 150 years ago. For this reason, a boardwalk was constructed to allow visitors to view the mudpots and fumaroles from a safer distance…my question is, how do the wooden posts supporting the boardwalk withstand the corrosive acids, minerals and boiling temperatures they are constantly subjected to?!

The colors here were incredible. Bright blue sky. Clean white snow. Aquamarine pools. Grey mud pots. Swirls of orange, yellow, white, copper and rust colored minerals staining the landscape. Bumpass Hell stimulated all of the senses and there was so much to take in! The smell of sulphur. The heat of steam vents mixing with the cold air of high altitude. Mudpots bubbling and burping. With so much happening there on the surface, I kept trying to imagine what it could possibly be like 5′, 50′, 5000′ below! It felt like the basin was a living creature sighing and sputtering below our feet. The thing that interests me so much about volcanoes and hydrothermally active locations such as this, is that they are the one of the few places where you can actually see the dynamics of land creation on a relative scale.

We enjoyed the area and made our way back the way we came. The snow was much softer by this point and we made good time on the return. Unfortunately, I hadn’t allotted more time to Lassen and we had a long drive ahead of us to get to Yosemite. We made our way down the mountain to the south entrance of the park, stopped at the visitor’s center cafe for a quick snack and continued to our next destination. If I wasn’t constrained by our permits for hiking Half Dome at Yosemite, I definitely would have loved to explore Lassen for at least another day. It’s definitely deserving of another look.

little tent in the big woods

I’ll admit it. I have a problem. You might call me a hobby collector. I have a tendency to get wrapped up in too many extracurricular activities at once. The past couple months have revolved around studying Portuguese, my annual pumpkin baking season, photography class, circus school and completing my “Moroccan” hutch. Occasionally other hobbies (i.e. this blog) have to sit on the back burner. I think it’s time to get this thing to the front of the stove.

I don’t know if this is true or not, but I swear California smells better than other states. It’s just so fresh! And Redwood National Park might just be the perfect combination of ocean air and coastal forest, all encapsulated in a low hanging fog, that leaves you inhaling in deep gulps.

From Crater Lake NP we headed southwest down a road that felt like a trip back in time. Small run-down towns speckled the highway as we descended a winding and scenic route. Originally I had intended a second night at Crater Lake, but my dad and I both felt that after our amazing boat ride and island hike, we were ready to move on. Over the more than three hour drive between Crater Lake and Crescent City, we descended around 7,000 feet. As we neared Crescent City we entered a thick forest that blocked out most of the fading daylight. Suddenly at dusk, we had our first sighting!…as we rounded a curve, a massive tree loomed out in front of us. The most stunning part was how it was literally growing into the road. A notch had been cut out about 10 feet up to allow trucks the clearance to pass. I wondered how much smaller (and farther from the road) the tree had been when the road was first built. The rest of the drive was pretty exciting, whizzing by gigantic trees, invisible until the moment they were illuminated by the headlights of the car.

My dad was a good sport about camping the night before, so I didn’t resist his suggestion to get a hotel for the night. Crescent city was pretty dead on a Sunday night and after several attempts, we finally found a restaurant that was open.

Redwood NP is unique because it is actually a patchwork of areas managed by the state park system and the National Parks system. The majority of the redwood groves are actually in the state parks. The NPS basically manages the areas in between the state parks so it is one interconnected system. Besides the tallest trees in the world, the park also covers miles of coastline and prairie areas.

The next morning we woke up, had a quick breakfast and hit the coast. It was a beautiful day and we did a leisurely hike from the coastal cliffs down to the water. It really is a stunning area; the wild pacific ocean, sweeping vistas and windflowers dotting the sides of the trail. The tide was coming in, so there were no tidal pools to explore, but there were several rock formations and a fallen redwood tucked into a narrow cove. After hiking back up to the top, we continued southward down 101 towards the Newton B. Drury Scenic Parkway.

As we approached the bridge that crossed over the Klamath River, we were surprised to hit traffic. As we drew nearer, we saw that crowds of people were lined up on the west side of the bridge, peering over, cameras and binoculars at their eyes. Curious, I stuck my head out the window and asked a bystander what was below, thinking at best, maybe a bear. To our surprise, the onlooker responded that it was a whale! We immediately pulled off to the side of the road, parked and ran back to the bridge. And there it was…a 45 foot gray whale in the Klamath River, 2 or 3 miles upstream from the sea. Ironically, earlier that morning as we stood gazing at the Pacific Ocean, my dad had noted his disappointment of missing the whale migration season and how we would not get to see a whale! As amazing as it was to see it, we could not help but consider the odd circumstances…both of us, having watched numerous documentaries (dad) and read articles (me) knew that when wild animals do peculiar things such as this, something is usually very wrong. We admired and contemplated for a bit, watching the whale languidly roll, float and occasionally blow a stream of water into the air. Early the next morning as we drove by one final time, it was foggy and only a few people were at the bridge. I tried to peer over the edge as we went by, but the concrete barrier was blocking the view. Several weeks later, we googled the whale, looking for more information. Sadly, we learned that the whale had died around 4 a.m. that very morning we drove by…if we would have stopped and looked over the edge, we might have seen the Yurok tribe laying the whale to rest. A full article about the whale is here.

To get back on a brighter note, the rest of the day was fantastic! We continued down the Newton B. Drury parkway, stopped off at the Big Tree wayside and then headed back into Crescent City. After a quick lunch, we set out for our main hike of the day: The Boy Scout Tree Trail.

The road just to get to the trail was part of the fun. Shortly after the turnoff, the smooth asphalt turned into a curvy dirt road. The trees along here were gigantic!

We arrived at the trail head and started off on the 5+ mile out and back hike. The thing I immediately noticed on the trail (besides the obviously massive trees) was how quiet it was. Here, the trails are carpeted with soft redwood and other pine needles allowing even the loudest of walkers (you could never use the word graceful to describe me) to sound as if they are gently tiptoeing. The sunlight filters through the dense canopy and everything is mossy green from the almost daily fog. Here (at least for me)… if you let your imagination go, it is very easy to be whisked away to a medieval enchanted forest filled with sprites and other magical creatures….maybe I’ve been reading to much YAFFA, huh Em?! The hike was moderate, rolling up and down with no overly steep sections. At the end, a small waterfall. On the way back, we took a short detour up a hill to see the Boy Scout Tree. After a few pictures we made our way back to the car and drove to the campsite in Jedediah Smith SP, where we would be spending the night.

After setting up the tent, we both agreed that we weren’t feeling sandwiches and trail mix for dinner. We made the short drive into Crescent City (it really is surprising how close it is – the woods are so tall and dense you feel like you are in the middle of nowhere) and found a really delicious pizza place.

It was once again too cold to sleep without the fly, but my dad wanted to be able to look up at the clear sky. My last memory as I fell asleep was looking over and seeing my dad’s head sticking outside the tent, resting on his jacket, while the rest of his body was bundled up in his sleeping bag inside! I think he stayed this way for several hours!