I didn't sleep as well tonight as I have past nights, but that didn't keep me from getting up with the sun as it peered above the east mountains and shone through the tent wall as a spiked star. It was yet again another beatiful blue sky. I could not believe how lucky we have been with weather. After a hearty breakfast of eggs, cheese and turkey with italian spices we started our descent into hell. Formed in 1916, Lassen Volcanic National Park is one of the oldest national parks. It's formation was spearheaded by Loomis, a man who had been watching Lassen Peak in the year preceding it's famous eruption. He was ready with his camera when it blew in 1915 and successfully took 4 frames that capture the explosion. Before the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1980, the Lassen eruption was the most recent in the 48 states.

Our drive started up the pass to the base of Mt Lassen. Along the way we say some random pillars of steam emanating from the valley floor. Just before the pass, Sulpher Works was a place where a couple fumaroles and mud-pots were working away near the road and where some old-timers mined. It's also very near to where the surface water seeps down miles below to get heated by hot magma. The main release for the superheated water is Bumpass Hell. It's an area of boiling ponds, fumaroles and mudpots in a basin of bleached dirt stained with sulphuric yellows and pale blues. In the late 1800's Mr. Bumpass gave tours of this steaming landscape. The area is named for him because during a tour he broke through the ground and burned his leg in 240 degree mud. He had to amputate. The park works this into an effective warning in many places urging people to stay on designated trails so that "Bumpass' Hell does not become your hell".

Our next hike in Lassen was to Kings Creek Falls. It was a surprisingly beautiful hike along Kings Creek which cruises gleefully through intimate tree rimmed meadows peppered with wildflowers. Lassen is in an area where the range for southern plants and northern plants overlap resulting in unusually large bio-diversity. Almost 780 species of plants are found in the park, but nearby Mt Shasta has only 485 species. I was pleasantly surprised to actually notice the unusual amount of flowers. The falls was a gradual descent of the water down about 100 feet of angled rock. At the bottom Seish and I refreshed our feet. Damn that water was cold. The kind of cold that makes your feet feel like they're in a vice. But it was nice to sit at the bottom with fresh feet and enjoy the cool mist from the waterfall.

The museum created by Loomis displayed his photographs of the 1915 explosion and had a lot of great information about the park and it's volcanic processes and history including Mt Tehama. It's supposed to be an ancient mountain that Lassen Peak was to have been a mere side-vent on. Estimated at 11,500 feet it has long since collapsed and now only a vague crater edge remains.

After leaving Lassen we rushed as fast as we could to meet my sister just north of Crater Lake at 6:30. We had to pick up some steaks for dinner and despite our optimism we were still a half hour late. But my sister is pretty easy going and she was pretty happy to see me anyway. It was a fantastic reunion. After some long-missed hugs on the roadside the three of us went to Diamond Lake campground and secured a great campsite by the shore. As the sunset warmed the surface of the lake and the moon lit it's thin crescent we cooked an amazing meal of camp-fire barbecued New York steak, baked potatoes, a rockin' organic salad fresh from Eugene and topped with toast from the first bottle of my case of divine Chiles Valley Red from the Nicholini winery. We shared stores drank, laughed and enjoyed the stillness of the evening as the musky evening light slowly dimmed to twinkle of stars. I felt gretefull to be enjoying this evening with two of my favorite people in the world.

Although all 3 of us had to cuddle up in our 2 person tent, I fell asleep easily drugged by the surge of heavenly contentment in my soul.

-jesse