Lassen Volcanic

We have a knack for finding hidden treasures in the National Parks system. Lassen Volcanic National Park definitely fit the bill!

Mt. Lassen is at the very south tip of the Cascade chain of mountains/volcanoes. It erupted in 1915, creating much of the geology we saw today. Love seeing a 10 ft boulder that had been spewed over 3 miles from the power of the eruption. Lassen was also an example of wildfire rebirth, because almost 70% of its forests were destroyed in the Dixie fire of 2021. Just a day filled with one of our favorite things, interesting geology!

And it doesn’t hurt that Lassen is one of the least-visited national parks, which is such a pleasure compared to other western favorites like Glacier, Rainier, and Yosemite.

Of course we always start with the Visitors Center and museum so we can buy a sticker for our travel trays and get a National Parks stamp in my passport book (40 year travel hobby.)

The museum was actually surprisingly cool. This wall of photos taken in rapid succession capturing the 1915 eruption were amazing considering what it took to get a photo back then!

What Mt Lassen looks like today.

An interesting area of far-flung boulders aptly called Devastation Area. Don’t tell the rangers, but Steve stole a rock for me.

The white mountain outline on the image below is where the original mountain was.

We were very industrious and hiked 2.6 miles up the mountain to visit the Bumpass Hell thermal area.

We look pretty good at the halfway mark, knowing it was mostly downhill for the second half.

There was an explosion and migration of the California Tortoiseshell butterflies. There were literally thousands of them flying overhead. It was amazing! I tried to capture one with a photo, but I had to admit that Steve’s attempt was way better!