Wednesday 29 August 2018
Bumpass Hell is the usual geothermal attraction at Lassen, but this year it is closed for trail renovation, Devil’s Kitchen is the recommended alternative hike. The trailhead is a 2 hour drive from our campsite on the southern end of the park. One must drive out of Lassen, into the town of Chester and then proceed to the Warner Valley trailheads which are, of course, up a narrow gravel road.
O and I decide to get an early start and stop for breakfast in Chester. We figure this will be quicker than cooking in camp, cleaning up dishes, and then driving. The driving directions in our guidebook to Chester and then to the trailhead are excellent and we find our way without difficulty. Since we have driven all this way we decide to add a side trip to Boiling Springs Lake which extends our hike by only 1.5 miles.
We trek along a stream and out into beautiful meadows under brilliantly blue skies. No smoky haze today! O finds it interesting that the bluest skies of our trip thus far are over Devil’s Kitchen. From the meadows we return to forest and arrive at the bubbling kitchen after about two miles. A trail winds through the area. There are many warning signs regarding the danger of leaving the path. Steam from fumaroles rises around us and the odor of hydrogen sulfide is in the air. There is a constant bubbling noise that seems to come mainly from under the ground. The noise surrounds us. The Devil must be expecting lots of company because he sure is cooking up a lot of soup!
We complete our tour of the kitchen and return along the path towards a junction with the Boiling Springs Lake Trail. We climb to the loop around the lake. Again the smell of sulfur greets us, but less strongly here. We stop in the shade of some pine trees to eat lunch and then continue around the shore. We can see bubbles at the edge of the lake where hot springs percolate up. The water is generally a chalky teal color. The banks of the lake are a rainbow of colors due to the effects of the acidic water on the rocks.
We descend back through the woods and return to Vincent. On our way through Chester we stop to buy pie for breakfast so we can get an early start on tomorrow’s trek. From Chester it is almost 60 miles back through Lassen to our camp. As we drive up the winding highway the shadows are lengthening. We pass a young man with a backpack holding up his thumb in hopes of a ride. We wave and drive by as the van is currently not set up for a passenger, but then we think again. It is growing late and this is a lonely road. We turn around and ask the young man where he is headed. He is walking to Summit Lake Campground which is miles away. O and I rearrange Vincent’s seats and the young man climbs in. He is visiting the US from Prague and has been travelling the parks in California, using public transportation when he can and hitchhiking when there is none available. He is a bit perplexed by the poor public transport here. In Prague he has no need of a car and he has successfully travelled in Central Asia with public transport as well, though he points out that he was among at least 25 passengers in an old Mercedes van the size of Vincent while in Kazakhstan. Peter (that’s his name) is in Lassen because he wants to see a cinder cone volcano. He will then travel on to Crater Lake. We drop him off at Summit Lake South and wish him well.
Back at camp we rearrange Vincent’s seats, dine, and then sleep.