During our visit to Lassen Volcanic National Park in mid-August, 2013, we hiked to a 16 acre geothermal area known as Bumpass Hell. Parking for the trail is less than ¼ mile southwest of Lake Helen on the opposite side of the Lassen Peak Highway. Our first stop was at a seeming geologic oddity perched at the southwest edge of the parking lot.
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| Glacial erratic |
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| Surface rocks carved by glaciers |
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| Tree twisted by the wind |
The informational sign entitled Pluck and Carry describes the forces at work:
If we think of volcanoes as mountain builders, then glaciers are mountain remodelers. This lone rock pays tribute to the rearranging forces of glaciers. Glaciers carve, grind, and excavate mountains in ways that geologists easily recognize. This huge rock is called a glacial erratic – a boulder out of context.
Notice the smooth surface of the rock at your feet. This rock was worn by the friction of a glacier that moved over it about 18,000 years ago. The lone boulder, which is of a younger rock type than the surface rock, was carried and dropped here by the same glacier. As the glacier formed and flowed from Bumpass Mountain behind you, it plucked the boulder from the mountain’s side and engulfed the rock into the ice mass. Gravity moved the ice mass downslope over the surface rock. By the time the boulder reached this location, the glacier melted and set the rock at rest here.
After viewing the glacial erratic, we walked to the trailhead at the other end of the parking lot. The sign there describes the hike as a three-mile round-trip that "leads to the largest upward-flowing hydrothermal feature in the park." The trailhead is above 8,100 feet, so pace yourself during the 450 foot climb of the first mile and the 250 foot climb in the first ½ mile of the return trip.
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| Little Hot Springs Valley |
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| Brokeoff Mountain |
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| A tributary of Sulphur Creek |
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| Lassen Peak and Lake Helen |
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| A meadow of wildflowers and rocks |
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| Brokeoff Mountain and Mount Diller |
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| Mount Lassen |
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| Distant vista |
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| Typical section of trail |
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| More of the trail |
After about one mile, we reached the highest point on the trail and this bench. From here, we had our first obstructed view of the geothermal basin.
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| The only rest bench is at the "summit" of the trail |
The sign next the the bench provides some historical context to the name Bumpass Hell:
Our guide [Mr. K. V. Bumpass], after cautioning us to be careful where we stepped, that the surface was treacherous, suddenly concluded with Virgil that the “descent to hell was easy” for stepping upon a slight inequality in the ground he broke through the crust and plunged his leg into the boiling mud beneath, which clinging to his limb burned him severely. If our guide had been a profane man I think he would have cursed a little; as it was, I think his silence was owing to his inability to do the subject justice…. Editor, Red Bluff Independent, 1865
In 1864 mountaineer and explorer Kendall Vanhook Bumpass first saw this steaming, hissing, thumping hydrothermal area, which now bears his name. He and his partner, Major Pierson B. Reading filed claim to these boiling springs with the intention of mining the minerals and developing it as a tourist attraction. Perhaps those dreams were dashed when Bumpass stepped into a boiling mud pool at nearly 240° F (115° C). Regardless, Bumpass lost his leg by this unfortunate accident and his dreams of fortune here never materialized.
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