Moments in Dirt and Ink

Bucks Lake Wilderness Plumas National Forest Locate the trailhead. I found a nice loop to go on, estimated it to be at least 17 miles, and found the trail to make it a nice smaller loop to go on instead. This one had seemed small, so I added in an excursion to a couple lakes at the side. And then I battled a printer far too long to get a map out of it and got to bed far too late before starting the hike the next day at Bucks Summit where the Pacific Crest Trail crosses Bucks Lake Road. I found the trail marked "closed" due to the fire north of the wilderness and across a large river canyon. At the top of the trail post was a copy of the forest order closing the trail. I found that it only applied to places north of highway 70 while I was south of it and wouldn't be going near it. Sign at the trailhead, which is only the summit in the sense that it is the high point of the road. As I decided to ignore the "closed" signs that were clearly oversta...

Lassen Volcanic National Park Map link. Warner Valley has a number of hydrothermal features including the hot springs that feed Drakesbad and Boiling Springs Lake and the steam vents that puff and stink in Devil's Kitchen and Terminal Geyser. I decided to take the day to see all of these, and if there was time, drive around and actually go down Bumpass Hell for more hydrothermal madness. Also, I wanted to go to the waterfall just upstream Hell's Kitchen which are marked on the 2002 Lassen National Forest map, among other places. So I drove up to the end of the public road that heads to Drakesbad and started hiking at the sign that seemed to indicate that there might be a loop through the Devil's Kitchen, but the two trails might not quite meet and there was no trail beyond it to the waterfall. Following the same route I took to Boiling Springs Lake along the Pacific Crest Trail for a short time, I cross over Hot Springs Creek on a nice bridge and look down to see...

Warner Valley, Lassen Volcanic National Park Locate the trailhead. This was a quick hike late in the day before driving back home. Warner Valley is along a road that goes into the park and stops a bit east of the main road. A sign in Chester pointed the way to the park road. Keeping left, then right brought me to a small parking lot for the Pacific Crest Trail well after the road had turned to gravel. The trail had many junctions but was well signed. Someone had written in "Boiling Lake" on the one sign post that forgot to mention it. The lake itself was a very easy 1.5 mile up the trail which has a loop around it. It's so easy, or maybe the land so cold this time of year, that I was quite comfortable in my thermals the whole way up to the thermal feature. The road actually goes up to a ranch just past the trailhead. I followed the PCT along through some sloshy grasses and over a small but fast stream to a footbridge across a small but fast river. Above t...