I was officially surrounded by wild fires and now that I was back in cellphone coverage I was constantly looking at wildfire maps and thinking about fires and smoke every day. The Dixie fire was closing in on Lassen Volcanic National Park however they were still open and I knew I had just enough time to see it. I was now in California and had a beautiful shaded spot at Shingletown KOA so I was a happy camper. (The fire continued to move towards the park and it was last impacted and closed due to the wildfire. Major sections and trails are still closed as I’m writing this in October 2021.)
The air quality wasn’t the best so hiking the more strenuous and fun hikes was discouraged. I settled for the hike from Summit Lake to Echo Lake. For the past two months I had been at some of the most popular and crowded National Parks so it was a nice treat to finally have the trail and wilderness all to myself. The hike provided some nice views of Mount Lassen and then a quiet lake is where I turned around.
I enjoyed a scenic drive through the park, which has some impressive elevation gain around Diamond Mountain. My favorite view was looking across Emerald Lake at Mount Lassen. There were wildflowers in bloom everywhere with entire hillsides either covered in purple or pink flowers.
Mount Lassen last erupted between 1914 to 1921 and the park is home to all four types of volcanoes (shield, composite, cinder cone, and plug dome). In addition, there are hydrothermal areas everywhere with hissing steam and burping mud-pots. I hiked out to Bumpass Hell which makes you feel as if you are on another planet. I stuck to the boardwalks and did not end up like the early explorer, Kenall Bumpass, who fell through the crust into the boiling water and lost his leg.
I had time for one more hike before I called it a day so I picked Kings Creek Falls trail. I had just come from Oregon, the land of waterfalls, so I wasn’t expecting much. Trailhead signage and markers encouraged everyone to take the longer and slightly easier horse trail to get to the waterfalls and warned that if you took the hiking trail back that it is narrow and steep stairs sections. I follow directions and get to a small waterfall and for a moment thought that was it but continued on to the 30 foot falls which was much more impressive than I was expecting. I was feeling good so I opted for the more challenging hike back and I was rewarded ten-fold with an insanely beautiful hike along a cascading waterfall with pink wildflowers everywhere. And I did not find it any more difficult than the horse trail, so please do not miss it if you are there. I hiked that section so slowly because I was constantly stopping to take pictures and video. I was in awe.
