To Hell and Back

We decided to go check out Lassen Volcanic National Park to give it a second try. Here we had the worst camping experience of our lives about 12 years ago. 

We were backpacking and the mosquitos were absolutely relentless. It was so bad that we walked around while eating. I lived in Galveston for a year and the mosquitoes were worse than I'd ever seen. And Jaron redefined love by waving mosquitoes off of my ass while I popped a squat. We were hiding in our tent after dinner, playing a game when we heard a bear breathing and walking around. We got very quiet and still and turned our light off. We heard the bear walking closer and almost shit our pants. It eventually satisfied its curiosity and left. 

The next morning, we went home instead of finishing our trip. 

But, we were in the neighborhood and Julie read about two interesting hikes, so we went to check it out. 

It turns out the first hike, Bumpass Hell, was 2.6 miles.  It's a hydrothermal area with bubbling mud pits and an acid pool. Romantic, amiright? It is so named for the explorer who found it and got severe burns. 

This creek is full of acid. 



An acid pool. 

Julie wondered how sticks were surviving in the acid pool. I guess it's not necessarily like in the movies where they melt in a hiss of steam. 



Vents! 

This short hike which started at 5pm took us almost 2 hours. We were not the last ones to start it, either. We had already booked our lodging and burned rubber to get there before the restaurant closed. I guess our hike to the Devastated Area will have to wait until next time.