We had no idea what to expect as we approached Lassen via a forest road. The entrance, at Butte Lake, is an unmanned and rustic path to this wonderful park. After walking and climbing for two miles, we found ourselves at the peak of a cinder cone. The going was tough as the cinder is soft, not allowing for a decent footing. However, after a 700 feet climb, one is in a ‘fairy land’. It is far better to allow the photographs to give one perspective of this amazing place as the views are so spectacular that our words would fall flat. Suffice to say, we were bowled over by the painted dunes; the walk down into the crater was a unique experience, which was followed by circumventing the top of the crater and the base of the cone, topped off with a walk in the wilderness surrounding the volcano. It had the feel of Tongariro on the North Island of New Zealand and Haleakala on Maui, Hawaii. This is in a smaller area than the former two; nevertheless, is very dramatic. We had to pinch ourselves to remember we weren’t dreaming. The only discomfort experienced was the gusting winds at the peak.
We met Mr. Chester Wright , a local and had a wonderful chat. We don’t often ask people their ages but we inquired of his. 'Eighty,’ he replied firmly. We shook his hand and wondered if we were more impressed with the hand-breaking squeeze or the feat of climbing that quite strenuous volcano wall. In fact, we have met many varied and interesting people on this trip—it adds much to hike-about.
On a less positive note, we bumped into three large groups of schoolchildren on a fieldtrip. We remember the same thing happening in New Zealand recently. The difference is that the latter were respectful and friendly whilst the former are surly and avoid any eye or oral contact. The policy of teaching kids not to talk to strangers seems to be working extraordinarily well. Is there not a better way than to presume all men are predators? Is there an age that they are ‘untaught’ this so that people are able to relate to each other? Excuse the rant but years of noticing this trend is of deep concern.
We came across Glynn who spends time camping in the wilderness. He gave us a good talking too and explained that we were very foolish to inform our friends of the great wonder and beauty in the wilds. ‘Why do you say that? How can we not tell our friends of the serenity, peacefulness and wonderment?’ We replied.
“How long do you think things will remain like this once the rest of the country finds out?” He answered. In a selfish way, he is right, of course. So remember, you didn’t ‘hear’ it from us.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
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