Devil's Kitchen (Lassen Volcanic National Park, California)

In order to reach this trail, one must leave the main area of the park and re-enter from the southeast corner of Lassen. After a scenic drive and a small area of off-roading (glad I have this jeep), I finally reach the trail head  In fact, there are a number of trails starting at his one spot. As it is getting late in the day, I’ll have to settle for just one on this visit to the park.

The early parts of the trail are marked by horse droppings and planked walkways over marshy areas, as the trail weaves between forest and grassy meadows. At one point about three-quarters of a mile in, a stone and earth stairway makes a descent a bit easier. Leaving the woods for a short time, it’s finally time to cross the last section of grassy meadow before the final push to Devil’s Kitchen.

Another mile or so and a hint of sulfur is picked up by my nose, while I admire some young sequoias. Of course by “young”, I mean their trunks are less than ten feet in diameter. As I reach the top of a small rise and cross a wooden bridge over a small creek, sulfur again fills the air and I can see a number of steam vents in the distance.

The trail meanders among a number of hot springs; some active, some not – and steam vents. To take all of it in is truly amazing. The geothermal heat just below the surface must be extraordinary to create an area of activity this large.

As I reach a sort of hot spring valley on the western end of the area, I notice a small stream of super-heated mud, which looks like liquid silver, breaking towards and eventually joining with the creek. Truly an amazing site to behold.

After thoroughly exploring the area, I decide to make my way back to the jeep. Along the way, I hear some clawing sounds in the distance. Looking over my left shoulder, I see a young bear, by its size and coloration, a grizzly, tearing into the trunk of a fallen tree. With events unfolding in my personal life, I wonder if this might be my spirit guide. If so, her message to me must be “determination”, as she barely notices me while working at her tree trunk. I take a couple of snapshots and turn to go, pondering the meaning of my chance encounter.