Mile 1343.5 to 1363.2 (plus 9 non-PCT miles)

We camped .3 miles from the border of Lassen Volcanic National Park. New regulations require all campers to store their food in either bear boxes or bear canisters. We sent our bear canisters home after the Sierra, and we weren’t about to start carrying them again. This left us with only one option, walk the 19.5 miles of the PCT through the park in one day and camp on the otherside of the northern border.

As we broke our stealth camp in the woods, we had a bounce in our step that had been missing the last few days. The repetative scenery of Northern California had been getting to us along with the heat, but today was different, today we had something to look forward too.

To be honest, we didn’t know too much about Lassen. We heard from Claire (aka Woodstock) when we passed her going southbound that there is a volcano you can hike up and down into, but that was all. The general lack of information was mainly due to the fact that most thru-hikers rush through the park because of the bear canister restriction. Bedazzled and I, however, have always been excited to take side trails and explore. The PCT may go from Mexico to Canada, but it doesn’t necessarily go through the most scenic or interesting spots along the way. Just hiking on the PCT would be akin to window shopping for me. Sometimes you need to go into the store to see all the goods.

With this in mind, we crossed the park border and stopped at the first trail junction we came to. Terminal Gyser .3 miles to the right, PCT to the left. “Ummmm what’s the Terminal Gyser?” I wondered. “Let’s find out,” answered Bedazzled. We dropped our packs and jogged down the path.
The smell of rotten eggs grew stronger and billowing clouds of steam appeared on the horizon. We crossed a stream of cloudy water and I reached down and quickly pulled back my hand. The water was hot. It reminded me of my time living on the southern island of Kyushu in Japan, which is the most geothermally active area of the country.

As we scaled the lava rocks alongside the stream, we got to the source of the steam and looked down into a bubbling cauldron of mud and steam vents. As the steam rose, the early morning sunlight filtered through it creating long rays of orange light. It was an otherworldly scene.

We returned to the trail, but it wasn’t long before we reached a sign for the Boiling Springs Circuit. Our interest peaked, we again detoured from the PCT. What we found was a steaming lake of pale turquoise water ringed by pine trees.

As we circumnavigated it, sink holes in the cracked gray mud revealed themselves and sulphurous gas leaked from the ground.

Halfway around, we came to a viewpoint which included the snowy sloped Mt. Lassen.

With another successful detour under our belts, we returned to the PCT and continued on for another 9 miles or so.

The day was heating up and the smoke of a wildfire still hung in the air obscuring any distant views we might have had. Bedazzled was suffering in the heat and lagging begind. When I came to a river that we needed to ford, I put down my pack and waited. Time passed and I began to think to myself, “Man, she must have been further back then I thought.” I filtered some water and made myself a coffee. Still no Bedazzled. Then off in the distance, I saw two hikers emerge from the woods with someone in tow. Sure enough, it was Bedazzled. “Did you lose this one? We found her going southbound on the PCT.” Somehow she had got discombobulated. To put it in her words, “I don’t know what happened, I was walking down a switchback, then I was walking up one.” I think Bedazzled’s newly acquired headphones must be too blame. Perhaps she was doing a little too much headbanging while listening to Rammstein. Anyways, I am glad they found her before she got to Mexico.
We crossed the river via a fallen tree and continued on. As we passed through a burn area, we came over a hill and saw Swan Lake to our right. I looked at the blue waters with longing as we passed by. Finally, a lake that is practically close enough to swim in! When we rounded the next bend, we had an even greater surprise. Lower Twin Lake sat right before us. A beautiful large body of clear water ringed with pines and low hills. Absolutely idyllic and it was just a few feet off trail! It was decided. We most stop for our lunch break and have our long awaited swim in water that isn’t freezing or trying to drown you.

With smiles on our faces and excitement in our eyes, we rushed to the water’s edge and dropped our packs in the shade. We raced to strip our salt stained clothes from our bodies and ran into water that was clear as glass. The temperature waswarm enough that you weren’t chilled but cool enough to be refreshing. We walked out 40 feet from shore in the shallow water before we dove in and floated like ice cubes in a glass of lemonade with puffy clouds drifting across a blue bird sky. Life felt complete in that moment.
We left the water to fill our grumbling stomachs and after two glorious hours, we were back on trail. As we neared the border of the park, we came across a sign for a 3.1 mile trail to the Cinder Cone. Our interest was peaked again. Could this be what Claire had been talking about? We checked the time. It was 4:00. If we dropped our packs, we could probably make it there, explore, and come back by 7:00. Just barely enough time to get out of the park before dark. Again we smiled at each other and headed off to see the cinder cone.

We covered the 3 miles in about an hour and emerged on an otherworldly landscape. Red and yellow hills barren except for the few pines that dotted their sandy sides.

The ground we walked on changed to pumice and our steps became labored as if we were walking on sand. To the left, the cinder cone stood quiet and black as the night. What a landscape.

We followed the trail to the creatively named Top of Cinder Cone Trail. It was steep and each step sent us sliding back when the pumice gave way.

After some effort, we reached the top and looked across the bizarre landscape.

Then we took a path that led down to the center of the cinder cone and sat surrounded by it on all sides.

After a tiring walk back up, we walked along the rim and descended down the otherside.

There was an iconic view with Mt. Lassen in the background, lave fields in the middle ground, and the cinder cone in the foreground, but sadly the smokey air from the wildfire created too much haze to get a photo. I will have to come back.
We returned to our packs and hiked the 4 remaining miles out of the park through a large burn area. A little past the border, we set up camp in a field and watched the sun set through the burned trees.