Lassen

It would be both ignorant and arrogant to say that I have seen Lassen Volcanic National Park.  I have driven the road through the park, which exposes me to perhaps 1% of that place.  To see more, I would have had to hike some of the many trails that weave up, down, and around this marvelous place.

For me, this park was mostly about water.  At lower elevations, the road is bracketed by beautiful forest.  The valleys are lined along the bottom by clear mountain streams bubbling over the rocks.

At higher elevations, mountain meadows appear.  These meadows have slow, clear streams winding through them.  Erosion of the deeper slopes and deposition when the waters slowed formed these tranquil flats.

The really high mountain lakes are clear basins of water reflecting the blue mountain sky, bordered by volcanic rocks and peaks.

Near the high point of the road, a large boulder (I estimate about 12 feet high) is seen.  Thrown there from a volcanic eruption many miles away, it gives a tiny sense of the raw power contained in a stratovolcano.

That power is not gone, just resting.  In the southwestern corner of the park, the road passes between mud pots and fumaroles, each bubbling with sulphurous steam.