Lassen Volcanic National Park

California, United States of America

A return to you regularly scheduled National Park Blog

(For real this time)

Have you ever wanted to see hot springs and snow?  How about hiking up a volcano! How about almost being killed by a drone? (Don’t worry not really)

Welcome to Lassen Volcanic National Park, aka Lassen!

A random stranger who was ready for a day a National Park

A random stranger enjoying nature

We started off our Lassen Adventures at Manzanita Lake! We couldn’t pass up the opportunity to paddle board and kayak in a National Park! We rented a single-person kayak, a double kayak, and two paddle boards. My parents hoped that they could be in the double kayak but my brother was struggling on the paddle board so he help onto their rope. When I looked over at them my dad was rowing while my mom was taking pictures and my brother was just hanging on.

For our actual hike, we went to BUMPASS HELL.

Yes that’s the actual name

No lie

Like seriously

My mom pronounced it Bump-us

You can guess what my dad and my brother and I were cheering on the way up to

BUMP-ASS HELL

This supposedly two mile hike does not include the initial walk to boiling lake (we couldn’t really see the bubbles) but it was still cool. The climb is a loop and the trail is narrow and on the side of a mountain. Although it was hard to pass by other hikers and it was super muddy, the trail afforded us spectacular views. This steep trail didn’t have viewpoints because the entire hike had beautiful views of the valley and Lassen peak.

This trail was uphill and very muddy which made it a lot of fun for my brothers and I. This was not as fun for the European tourists who were trying to get their 3 small children to safely climb down slippery rocks. At the top, the volcano is covered in boardwalks which allow you to get near the hot springs and see the vibrant colors and feel the steam. The hike was tough and very dusty (asthma sucks) but the views along the way were even more beautiful than the delicious nature valley bar I got to eat at the top!

Ironically enough, at the top of a volcano, in the middle of hot springs, at the center of a national park was the first time my phone had service since we had landed in San Francisco.

NOW FOR THE CRAZY PART

We had almost gotten down to the trail head when ALL OF A SUDDEN we hear a loud BUUUUZZZZ and the sound envelopes us. I think “ok wow we’re gonna die because the bees are swarming us and I’m just gonna die on this volcano.” I looked ahead at my brother  Danny and my dad and I hear them screech and start running like crazy down the rest of the hill. It turns out some guys ILLEGALLY flew a drone right above our heads and my dad was absolutely PISSED. My dad got super mad at the guy and the guy skirted out as fast as possible so we followed his car and tried to read the plates.

LASSEN was a rough hike but had amazing views. And if I had died on that volcano, you wouldn’t have this blog post so it all worked out!