Lassen Volcano and Mount Shasta

Ah. There she is. This is what I came here to see. Mount Lassen. A still-active volcano that is responsible for some pretty cool stuff here in Lassen Volcanic Park.

A lot of that cool stuff can be found at the colorfully-named Bumpass Hell (rhymes with ''compass'', not with ''ass''). 

A certain Mr. Kendall Bumpass (who might have been picked on in elementary school) discovered the area and unluckily needed to have his leg amputated after he broke through the thinly-crusted soil and suffered horrible burns. 

This is definitely one of the coolest, most bizarre things I've ever seen. The bright colors, caused by various microbes, lichens and mosses growing out of the sulfur-rich vents, freaked me right out. So much fun to photograph!

There's some good hiking in Lassen Volcanic Park, which I fully took advantage of.

Brokeoff Mountain (not Brokeback Mountain, as I kept calling it...)

Mount Lassen last erupted in 1915, spewing 30,000 feet of smoke and rock into the sky. Luckily, no one was killed (it was a rather uninhabited area at the time --and still is). 

Manzanita Lake

***************************

On the way to my next spot, I stopped at a little-known state park, McArthur-Burney Falls Memorial State Park. Within the park were the most beautiful waterfalls I've ever seen, Burney Falls.

Measuring 129 feet in height, the falls provide a constant flow, year-round, of 379 million liters PER DAY. Incredible. These are my favorite falls ever, more so than any Hawaiian ones I might have seen --and that's saying something.

*************************************************************

Shasta Mountain, looking fabulous below, is where I'll be heading next. It'll be my last Californian stop before visiting Oregon again on my journey back to Canmore.

Loving every sticker on this car.

A leisurely walk on the volcano is all I've got time for today.  It's so barren up here, like the moon... Or like Sudbury when I was growing up (it's since been greened-up).

Gorgeous Black Butte, a cinder cone formed about 10,000 years ago.

It rises almost 3,000 feet and I would have liked to climb it, but time was short today.

Mount Shasta has been revered for centuries by Native Americans and modern mystics alike. In 1987, 5000 mystics from around the world convened here for a mass World Peace meditation. They must have had their hands full during the Bush administrations. 

Mount Shasta is visible for more than 100 miles away. It stands alone on the horizon, unrivaled by other peaks. The volcano is dormant -- not yet extinct but not really active; its last eruption was 200-ish years ago.

It's only a few photos, but driving around Mount Shasta actually took up my entire day. Beautiful area.

Thanks for reading and for your support. My trip is drawing to an end and it was so much fun relaying it to you. Thank you to all who took the time to respond and comment.
xxxx