Hiking in the USA - Page 2

It was July 2003 and I was driving across the USA from Maryland to California. With me were my two grandsons. Every day of this 11-day road trip we’d drive several hundred miles but always save time to visit significant sights along the way. This day we left Mount Rushmore and South Dakota behind and headed NW into Wyoming. We had all seen the movie “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and we wanted to see the Devil’s Tower for ourselves. If we encountered any UFOs, that would be a bonus. This was my second visit to the Tower, the first being in October 1999 after running the Mount Rushmore Marathon.

The first view of the Devil’s Tower is a sight to behold even from several miles away.  The Tower rises forlornly out of the surrounding plain, beckoning the onlooker to come close if they dare.  You can see why it has always been a revered area to local Indian tribes. The Tower is a column of hardened magma that reaches 1,250 feet above the surrounding plain. It was formed some 65 million years ago. Basically, it's a volcano that, when active, never formed above ground. But over millions of years the surrounding softer landmass eroded away--leaving the Devil's Tower high and dry.  Although dedicated in 1906 by Teddy Roosevelt as the nation’s first national monument, most modern-day Americans became aware of it for the first time in the movie “Close Encounters” Movie. 

Our main adventure here was the 1.3-mile hike around the base of the tower. The paved trail takes the hiker around and through piles of rubble accumulated as pieces of hardened magma cracks and falls to the surface. Luckily for us, nothing came crashing down this day. Even so, we dared to climb over some of the rubble to move closer to the tower. We didn’t get too far. Soon enough, technical climbing gear would be needed—and that was entirely out of our league. It’s not unusual to see a mountaineer or two making their way to the top. On the southern side, one can also see high up on the tower walls the remnants of the wood ladder built in 1893 by its first climbers.

On our way out of the park we stopped by a large open field to stare at the prairie dogs popping out of their holes and scampering along the ground. As we watched there was always a prairie dog watching us.

Piles of rubble surround the Tower. Chunks of volcanic rock occasionally break off and crash to the ground.

The origin of the Devil's Tower

To counterbalance our fall 2015 road trip into America’s southwest, in early August 2016, Jane and I completed an 11-day road tour of the great northwest, including visits into the mountains of northern California, the mountains and coast of Oregon and the coastal region of Washington State. It was mostly a hiking vacation with a little running sprinkled here and there. The trip put another 2,050 miles on the 2003 Toyota Highlander’s odometer. 

Our prime target this time was the volcanoes of the Cascade Mountains. The plan was to scoot past northern California’s Lassen Volcanic National Park and head directly to Oregon’s Crater Lake. We’d get Lassen on the rebound. The great advantage of living in northern California is that these geologic marvels are only hours away—4 hours for Lassen and 6 hours for Crater Lake, make or break a speed limit or two.

The downside for such high tourist attractions in the summer is that close-by lodging facilities are usually sold out. At Crater Lake National Park, the closest reasonably priced lodging we could get was at a resort 25 miles south. But the traveling was easy and the cabins very nice. After three days at Crater Lake, hiking up and down trails, taking a boat ride and climbing the park’s tallest peak, we moved northwest to Portland to tour the waterfront and see what other adventures could be had. But I digress. This story is about an extinct volcano with a wondrous blue deep-water lake at its center.

Thick smoke rises above Crater Lake from a forest fire on its outer rim. The acrid smell of burning wood fills the air

It's Day 2 and we're on a 1-mile hike down to the boat ramp for a 2-hour ride around the inside of the caldera

A park service boat leaves for a tour. No private boats are authorized on the lake

After arriving back in California, we entered Mount Lassen Volcanic National Park in the late morning of August 9th. Lassen became a national park in 1916 because of its significance as an active volcanic landscape. There was a significant period of eruptions during 1914-1921. According to the National Park Service, Lassen Peak is the largest plug dome volcano in the world and the southernmost volcano in the Cascade Range. All four types of the world’s volcanoes are found in Lassen—the shield, composite, plug dome and cinder cone. 

After establishing ourselves in one of the rustic little cabins, we set out for the Cinder Cone volcano, including a 6-mile ride down a dirt road to get there. The 750-foot tall Cinder Cone was last active in the mid-1600s. It's activity ceased when several basalt lava flows took the easy way out and erupted from it's base.

The next day included a cool hike to the top of Lassen Peak and then a warm trek to the steam vents, hot springs and boiling mud pots at the bottom of Bumpass Hell. The summit of Lassen Peak reaches 10,457 feet. It's a 5-mile round trip hike from the 8,500-foot trailhead location.

Following a second night of cabin camping, day eleven of our journey into the northwest got underway with a 4-hour drive south from Lassen back to the San Francisco Bay area. It was a rescue operation of sorts. Bentley-the-Cat had been cooped up in a 2-foot square cage at the vets for the past 10 days. It is certainly a safe choice for him, but the quality of life is minimal. This for a cat who normally has the run of the entire neighborhood! So, when Jane opened that door to his little cage Bentley went crazy with the meows. He even entered his carrying box without flailing his legs and causing a fuss. 

Once setted in the cabin, we headed out for a hike of the Cinder Cone volcano