Day 52, Saturday, August 6

I’d had several people, most recently, Cliff Smith, tell me that while at Lassen, I had to do 3 things 1. go to Bumpass Hell, 2. hike up the Cinder Cone, and 3. hike up Lassen Peak. Today I did the first two.
Bumpass Hell is an area of hot springs and fumeroles. I’ve heard and read numerous versions of how it got its name, each with its own little twist to entertain the audience. The common theme seems to be that a guide stepped through the thin crust and scalded his leg. His name was Mr. Bumpass and his exclamation about having just made a quick trip to Hell is how the place got its name. Today, it’s not really even a hike as much as it is an easy walk. All areas that are of any concern are traversed via a boardwalk with ample signage about the perils of stepping off the established trail. It’s a lot like the mud pits and hot springs of Yellowstone except on a MUCH MUCH smaller scale.
This afternoon I rode over to the Cinder Cone. I wasn’t sure what to expect and was very pleasantly surprised. It’s very, very cool. You hike up to the cone through a forest growing on ash deposits and as you come around a bend you’re all the sudden confronted with a startling wall of volcanic rocks. I’m not sure why the edge of the rock field is so abrupt but the effect is stunning. It’s like someone drew a curvy line and said “Past this line, no more rocks.” Past this section you come to the cinder cone itself which is also stunning in appearance.
The Cinder Cone gives a fantastic view of the concept of an angle of repose. This is the steepest angle that a field of relatively consistently sized particles (gravel in this case) can rest at without becoming unstable. Any removal of rocks from the base of the slope or addition of rocks at the top of the slop will cause instability and result in a land slide. For those of you interested, you can see how this concept is used in the insect world as well by a bug called an “ant lion” or a “doodle bug” (I was fascinated with these when I was growing up in Alabama. (for example, see: http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/antlion.html) The angle of repose for the cinder cone is between 30 and 35 degrees. Hiking the trail that goes up the cone is a heck of a chore because for each step forward you slide half a step backwards. On the way up this makes for an enormous amount of work to cover a seemingly short amount of ground. On the way down what it makes for it FUN! The gravel is small enough that each step downward is cushioned so you get to half run/half ski down the trail. It made me laugh out loud!
At the top of the cinder cone you’re rewarded with a dual, concentric, crater, also super easy to walk down into and seemingly impossible to get out of. Kind of made me feel like an ant trapped in an ant lion cone.