Lassen Volcanic Nat'l Park
This Impact blog posting is brought to you by Nils.
Week 33 was, in fact, last week. Due to unexpected family visits, last minute holiday errands, followed by long, tiring and separate travel home (Nils via Washington, DC, me via Toronto — don’t ask!), we’re a bit behind schedule in blogging. ~Corinne
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Wide Mountains. Open range. The vastness and beauty of Nature (capital “N” intented) can be overwhelming, breathtaking. In our case, it literally is. We are in the Lassen Volcanic National Park, taking an “easy” (or so the books say) hike along a mountain ridge at 7,000 feet to see Bumpass Hell, a large area full with fumaroles, bubbling mudholes and boiling lakes. We are slowly walking along the rocky trail.
Bumpass Hell
Some healthy looking mountaineers are passing us with a cheery “Hi, how’s it going?” Weeell, it’s going rather slowly. We’re taking small steps and enough time to catch breath every once in a while. But, these regular pitstops also have their advantages. We take in the landcape around us, the huge fir trees, the rocky slopes, the deep crevices and the creek in the meadows down in the valley some 2,000 feet below. All that is served at a perfect 65°F together with this incredibly clear and clean mountain air. Makes me almost want to cry. This is definitely worth the panting and wheezing.
King's Falls
The next day, we go back into the park to see the King’s Creek Falls. A trail along a creek meandering through woodlands and meadows (still at 6,500 feet), then suddenly cascading down a gorge to end up in a waterfall approximately. 70-80 feet high. Stunning. On the way back we see that some other hikers are pointing towards the other shore. There is an animal moving over the rocks, looking for food. We get into an animated discussion if we see a beaver or a badger, but the results are rather inconclusive.
On initial arrival at the ranger station, we had learned that this region was “discovered” in 1863 and that it is today mostly in the same state (apart from the road and some stepstones for the more challenging passages on the hikes) as it was then. The park is basically a huge volcanic region, with peaks up to 10,800 feet, dotted with mountain lakes and wide forests.
Seeing this land largely intact motivates us to protect it and its wildlife and ensure that all will be preserved for others as well. This week’s Impact is inspired by our two hikes and what we saw there: We’ve donated to the Lassen Park Foundation, “supporting youth programs, enhanced interpretive and educational activities, trail restoration, wildlife research, and cultural resource development.”
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Back at the Visitor’s Center, the ranger easily identified the beaver/badger through the pictures we took. It was a yellow-bellied Marmot. Of course! So much for knowing our animals.
If you’d like to join us for Week 33′s Impact effort, perhaps you, too, spent some of your summer vacation at a park, museum, or other venue that depends on public funds? A place that you’d like to help ensure lives on for others?
As a footnote: The plastic awareness week already left its marks. We’re not sure if we would have spotted the abandoned ziplock bag under the tree next to the trail if it weren’t for last week’s Impact …
