Made it to Bumpass Hell just after sunset. A snowy and muddy trail passed through the heart of an ancient caldera at the foot of Mt. Lassen, eventually leading to a geothermal inferno of bubbling mudpots, fumeroles, and sulphur vents...White steam hissed into a pink and golden sky, bleeding into a deep red which oulined a rim of jagged peaks on the horizon--all that is left of the ancient Mt. Tehama--ten thousand years ago, a thousand feet taller than Lassen...My camera had just enough battery life to snap one quick picture at the overlook. I descended the last embankment of gray clay mud to the caldera. As I circled the vents, the smell of sulphur and frequent blasts of steam alternated slapping me in the face with a crisp alpine breeze--made all the more intense as I panted out of breath...I took the last snow from my pocket and let it melt slowly down my throat. 98.7 degrees F seems tepid compared to the 350+ degrees boiling under the boardwalk below...There's little time to linger as the wind begins to howl. I started back up the trail guided by what little light remains under the fingernail moon. The snow on both sides--and sometimes on--the trail providing more of a guide. Across the caldera I faintly saw the headlights of a BMW twinkling...Half a Subway sandwhich (and full rack of smoked ribs) later, arrangements were made to return for sunrise...
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