We last saw our intrepid and rather breathless heroine taking a breather at the top of the trail, more or less. This jagged pile of gunpowder gray ex-lava provides a handy place to do just that before continuing to the second half of the trail.

This sand is actually fine pumice and ash from an eruption eleven centuries in the past and some 25 miles away. The culprits were Chaos Crags, visible from the summit and to the right of Mount Lassen: There she blows! (The sparkly bits are quartz and feldspar.)

While all the tough plants such as sage and bitterbrush thrive here, this unexpected little willow has found a pocket of moisture and thus, life. There aren’t many trees up here, though a pine or two survives.

This part of the path takes you up and down a few gentle hillocks with examples of volcanic activity sprinkled delightfully all over the place.

I’m not entirely sure I took a picture of the right thing, as the nature trail marker was not exactly at the location. But this is apparently a lava tube with columnar jointing

(This is the same process as at Devil’s Postpile National Monument and, indeed, the Giant’s Causeway where I was once lucky enough to spend a birthday).

Here, the path splits and there’s an extra little loop. (On the map it’s shown as a fork, but I am pretty sure it loops round; I was too lazy to check.)

Either way, if by now you are footsore and thinking of skipping the fork DON’T! Here’s why.

First, you see a collapsed volcanic vent, the only one you’ll see on this trail. The theory is that the eruption barely broke the surface, so there wasn’t much material to build up a cone. Not so our next stop!

Behold! a bona fide volcanic vent. It’s called Steep Cone, is almost perfectly round and 95 feet in diameter. I was quite surprised to find it wasn’t fenced off, so go with caution and hang onto your kids’ hands: You really could fall into it.

A sign nearby tells of the natural history of this area; it’s quite the haven for plants and animals.

Here is where the path gets steep and a little “rough.”

Let me phrase it this way: The path is only rough if you’re more accustomed to walking on asphalt. The surface here is quite loose and steep, but I realized that it would not have been a big deal to come up this way. The steep section is very short.

In fact, if you think you can manage it, I think it would be preferable to ascend this way (so when you get to the choose your own adventure, you go left instead of right). You will be left with a gentle, easy descent.

Beaut Cone, above, is one of twenty spatter cones along a long fissure. The brochure speaks of “rich colors and textures,” but I’m not sure I was seeing what the writers were seeing. Either way, the depth of the hole (again, not fenced off) is impressive.

Next up: The bat cave! This little cave is indeed home to thousands of bats. I didn’t go poking around! This is a cool (in the sense of climate control) little shelter that houses lichen, ferns and moss, too.

No batmen though.

The views are still quite something. Here, from left to right, you can see Logan Mountain, Wilcox Peak and Sugarloaf Peak (not to mention that incredible blue sky). The spatter cone environment in which we are now walking was created from the flow of lava; these in turn were created by classic eruptions.

See the bald patch in front of Wilcox Peak? It was formed from exploding lava that broke apart before landing in its own personal heap of rubble.

As you pass a collapsed, step-like pile that used to be a lava tube, the path mellows out and becomes more or less flat. This raised pile (tumulus, though I know that word more as the name for burial mounds in Britain) is where lava slowed down and started to solidify. Other lava piled on top of it and bob’s your uncle: You get a hillock.

The last stop on the geology trail is more of that giant’s causeway columnar jointing we bumped into earlier; for a short while it is the path. There was lava, which cooled, and then shrank; the cracks broke it into these hexagonal columns. It looks like crazy paving.

Now we rejoin the path to return to the parking lot (or campground). The further down you go, the less harsh the landscape until once again you are in the forest. Dirt gives way to wood chips and then to asphalt, and the walk is complete.

It’s well worth taking an hour or two to do this trail. Wear a hat, stomp your feet to warn rattlesnakes of your presence, and take water (and a picnic). Don’t forget your camera!

Tags: 20090602, chaos-crags, hat-creek-ca, June 2009 road trip, lava, nature-trails, pumice, spatter-cones-trail, trails, volcanoes, walks

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