LASSEN VOLCANIC NATIONAL PARK

LASSEN VOLCANIC NATIONAL PARK
September 1-4, 2006
September 1, 2006, we left El Cerrito BART at 2:40 PM but ran into some heavy traffic in Vacaville and thus didn’t get onto the dirt road into Juniper Campground until just at dusk. A Great Horned Owl flew across the road. Then ten minutes later a smaller owl flew across. We didn’t stop as we were concerned about arriving at a campground we had never seen before after dark. We drove on and another small owl flew across, probably a Saw-whet Owl. We secured an excellent campsite, number 5, that was very private and secluded. The campground is considered primitive because it has no water but each site has a picnic table, fire ring which we didn’t use, and there are vault toilets that were very clean.

On Saturday we drove one mile to the Horseshoe Lake Trailhead and parked. We hiked 19 miles total going from Juniper Lake to the south shore of Snag Lake to beautiful Butte Lake, around Cinder Cone and the north shore of Snag Lake, through Cameron Meadow, and back to Juniper Lake. We hardly saw any people at all. The trail was very dusty and the number of birds seen was disappointing. About one mile into the trail we were excited when we ran into a family of Sooty Grouse and they let us get very close. Then on the south shore of Snag Lake we saw a Dusky Flycatcher and Wilson’s Warbler in the scouler willows and in the lake was a single California Gull and about 20 Common Mergansers. After Snag Lake there was not much to look at until we reached Butte Lake where we saw an Osprey overhead. Butte Lake is bordered by the Fantastic Lava Beds and behind that the Cinder Cone and Lassen Peak are visible. At Butte Lake there was another Dusky Flycatcher and a Hammond’s Flycatcher. There were many Pygmy Nuthatches and one White-breasted Nuthatch. We saw two Rock Wrens on the Fantastic Lava Beds that surround Cinder Cone. We didn’t have time to hike up Cinder Cone and instead made our way around it in the loose sand which was tough-going. On the north shore of Snag Lake there was the most bird activity of the day. We saw Mountain Bluebird, Brown Creeper, and most exciting of all four Black-backed Woodpeckers. Two of the Black-backed Woodpeckers chased each other around a tree as we watched below. Then we trudged back to our starting point. We were exhausted when we made it back to the car at 7:00 PM just in time for dinner.

On Sunday we drove to Warner Valley and parked at the Boiling Springs parking lot. First we hiked up to Boiling Springs and walked around it admiring the steam vents and fumaroles. There were few people there. We returned to the car and got more water then returned to the trail and hiked to Devil’s Kitchen where we had our lunch. We were the only people in this active geothermal feature with many mudpots, steam vents, and fumaroles. Again there were few birds but it was perfect weather warming up to about 85 degrees and sunny. We hiked from Devil’s Kitchen to Drake Lake and then Dream Lake before returning to the car. The only new birds were a Fox Sparrow in the willows on the lush trail from Drake Lake to the trail junction with Boiling Springs Lake and a Red-tailed Hawk overhead.

On Labor Day we rose early and packed up our camping gear. On our way out the dirt road we stopped at a meadow with two ponds. We saw one Townsend’s Warbler, a Golden-crowned Kinglet, and a hummingbird that got away before I could identify it. Then we drove to the southwest park entrance and up the beautiful park road to the Bumpass Hell parking lot. We arrived early before the crowds and started up the trail to the park’s main geothermal feature, a large area of boiling springs, steam vents, fumaroles, and mud pots. After walking the boardwalk over this colorful hydrothermal area we continued up the trail. The trail passed fields of blooming wildflowers which was a big surprise after the dry dusty conditions of the eastern part of the park. There were lupines, yarrow, alpine daisies, three types of eriogonum, including Sulfur flower, groundsel, and arnica among others. The trail dropped down about 900 feet to a small lake with gas bubble gurgling up, Cold Boiling Springs. From there we continued to beautiful Crumbaugh Lake where we enjoyed our lunch. As I was sitting on a log eating a MacGillivray’s Warbler appeared in a nearby tree. Then it was time for the long climb out and back to the trail head. By the time we got back to Bumpass Hell the stragglers were arriving in drove and it was definitely time to go. We left the park and headed home. As we descended the park and passed through Red Bluff, the mercury soared to over 100 degrees. Last birds of the day occurred when we stopped at the rest area just past Williams and seven Long-billed Curlews flew overhead.
Mallard, Common Merganser, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red-tailed Hawk, Long-billed Curlew, California Gull, Great Horned Owl, probable Saw-whet Owl, Hummingbird sp., Belted Kingfisher, Hairy Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Black-backed Woodpecker, Northern Flicker, Western Wood pewee, Hammond’s Flycatcher, Dusky Flycatcher, Stellar’s Jay, Clark’s Nutcracker, Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Bushtit, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Pygmy Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Rock Wren, Golden-crowned Kinglet, Mountain Bluebird, American Robin, Northern Mockingbird, Hutton’s Vireo, Orange-crowned Warbler, Townsend’s Warbler, MacGillivray’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Fox Sparrow, Dark-eyed Junco, Pine Siskin