Lassen Volcanic National Park

August 13, 2013

Headed out a little earlier than usual this morning, had about an hours drive to reach our destination of Lassen Volcanic National Park. Lassen Peak formed 27,000 years ago, is one of the world’s largest plug dome volcanoes, rising to an elevation of 10,457’. A plug dome volcano generally has very thick lava, it moves slowly, giving plenty of warning to get out of its way.

From Redding, we headed east on Highway 44, bringing us into the park on the north side. The Visitor’s Center is at the south entrance, and key stops, view points and historical events are noted with numbered sign posts along the road, starting at the Visitor’s Center. If you have a choice, I would recommend that you stop at the Visitor’s Center and pick up a little book called “Lassen Volcanic National Park Auto Tours, Trips & Trails”. This book will follow the markers on the road and tell you what the significant event was at each marker.  We did the road backwards, and then picked up the book, we enjoy being different…anyway, the park is beautiful and at every turn there is a different view, a different landscape. There are 16 of these road markers along the 29 mile long road through the park; I’m not going to try to hit all of them.

A few are worth mentioning, I will try to keep comments brief (LOL). Also, I will note them by using the correct number of the road marker.

Stop #2 is called the Sulphur Works. You will notice a sharp sulfur smell, the ground is barren and there are clouds of steam rising from the earth, there are also mudpots boiling and steaming like pots of thick pudding.

When I was here with my family as a kid, I remember accessing these via a boardwalk, but now they are roped off and you can only view them from the sidewalk.

Stop #5 is Emerald Lake is a shallow glacial lake.

Because it is so shallow sunlight warms the water and the bottom of the lake enough for green algae to grow, creating its emerald green color.

Stop #7 is Lake Helen, larger than Emerald Lake, this lake has the look of a true alpine lake and the reflection of the surrounding trees is beautiful.

Lake Helen is about 110’ deep and stays frozen 7-8 months each year and it is believed to be somewhere between 25,000 and 120,000 years old.

Stop #9 is the Kings Creek Area.

This is a beautiful green meadow with the Kings Creek winding its way through the meadow.

Stop #11 is called the Devastated Area and well named it is! The 1915 eruptions transformed this place from a mature forest and colorful, flower filled meadow to a landscape of complete “devastation.” Parts of this area were filled with over 20’ of mud and volcanic debris as a result of the various eruptions.

Stop #14 is called Chaos Jumbles

and is another area of devastation, this one caused about 350 years ago by three large avalanches, bringing down enormous masses of rocks, pumice stone and other volcanic debris. In the years since the avalanche a forest of dwarf mixed conifers has grown up on top of the jumbled rock debris. Because there is limited soil with the nutrients needed for full growth, the trees look like young growth, but in fact may be more than 290 years old.

Lassen last exploded on May 22, 1915 with a powerful eruption that blasted rock and pumice high into the sky. A huge column of ash and gas rose more than 30,000’ and was visible as far away as 150 miles to the west. Smaller eruptions continued after the May 22^nd event, in 1917 steam explosions blasted out of the smaller of the two craters on the summit. Although Lassen has been quiet for many years, the steam vents, mudpots and hot springs still found in the park are an indication that a still active reservoir of magma hides beneath the mountain. No one can say when, but it’s a pretty sure bet that someday the Lassen area will experience volcanic eruptions again.

We had a great day exploring the park, it was about 10 degrees cooler up there, the park road reaches a summit height of 8,512’. As we came out of the south entrance to the park, we followed Highway 36 back to I-5, then north back to Redding. Highway 36 was a landscape of jumbled volcanic rock. About the only thing this land can be used for is cattle grazing, no way could it be cultivated.