Cinder Cone (Lassen Volcanic National Park, California)

Lassen Volcanic National Park is so close, it's difficult to not go exploring there at least once a year. Last year, Cass and I drove a few miles through the forest to Butte Lake in the Northwestern corner of the park, but didn't have much time to explore. However, an interesting feature of the park caught my interest and I promised myself to revisit it one day the following summer. Today was that day. I woke up early and got on the road around 6:00. With the top down on the jeep, the two-hour drive was rather brisk, but it was nice.

Arriving at the park, I found a place to park and headed for the Cinder Cone trailhead, just past the recently awakened Butte Lake. Mornings over a beautiful forest lake are always refreshing. Looking forward to the trail, I knew to be on the lookout for two other features of the park, the Fantastic Lava Beds and the Painted Dunes. I had read about them in literature on the park, but wasn't exactly sure what to expect to see or when to expect to see it. No problem, surprise is always the best approach and the Fantastic Lava Beds wasted no time in showing me the way. All along the Eastern side of the trail, large boulders of volcanic glass form a sea of dried lava, which according to signage was spewed forth over repeated eruptions from Cinder Cone. The lava bed itself stood approximately 30 feet taller than the ground of the surround forest and appeared as an agitated sea with rolling waves of the dark stone undulating and breaking one over the other.

This continued all the way up until the Cinder Cone volcano itself became visible in the distance. The dark gray cone rises from the barren landscape to a height of about 700 ft. above the surrounding area, with a steep and narrow path winding its way up the Western side. Making my way to the path, I remember how much fun I have in past adventure through landscapes made of volcanic ash. Today will be no different. Deciding to test my resolve, I begin making my way up great beast. With no shade to find, it gets quite hot and I have to stop a couple of times to rest. Eventually though, I reach the summit and look down into the inner cone of the volcano - magnificent.

Making my way around the cone on a worn trail, I am greeted with marvelous views of the entire Fantastic Lava Beds and the Painted Dunes on the East and Southeastern sides. In the distance I can see Butte Lake to the North and Snag Lag to the South East. And to the Southwest, the snow-covered Lassen Peak oversees all the goings-on in its namesake park. Truly a grand view from the top of Cinder Cone.

The pure beauty of the Painted Dunes catches my attention and I'm compelled to seek different angles for my camera. Not having a lot of geologic knowledge of the area, I have to assume that there were mineral deposits in the volcanic ash blasted from Cinder Cone, and as that ash covered the surrounding landscape, the gray ash was decorated by patches rich in these mineral treasures. The end result looks like an artist’s canvas, with base gray polka-dotted with bright yellows and amazing reds and oranges. Nature is the greatest artist.

Making my way around to the backside of the cone, I shuffle down a much steeper path to the base, where I have another grand view of the Painted Dunes. I begin to make my way back to the trailhead and discover the trail actually travels through the dunes on the Southern side of Cinder Cone. Awesome, I get to see and touch them close up. They don't disappoint. A couple of miles further and I'm back at the jeep, but what a terrific day trip this has been. I will definitely have to return.