Audio
Lassen Audio Tour Stop 6 - Bumpass Hell Trailhead
Transcript
Stop 6. Bumpass Hell Trailhead Parking Area and Vista The ever-popular Bumpass Hell area is a dramatic showcase of the power of change. Thousands of years ago, glaciers carved and scoured this area and the changes they wrought on the landscape can be observed today. Look around you. The jagged peaks above, and polished rock slabs at your feet, all bear the marks of the power of ice. Glaciers carved the U-shaped valley below you. And then there is the lonely boulder at the end of the parking area. That big rock makes for a photogenic backdrop to record your visit. It’s called a glacial erratic, a boulder that was left in place when the drifting ice melted around it. More recently, heated rock and water have changed this landscape, forming the park’s most popular trail destination―Bumpass Hell. Heated by magma, Bumpass Hell covers 16 acres and is an ever-changing landscape of mudpots, hissing fumaroles, and colorful hot springs. Be sure to stay on the boardwalks, you wouldn’t want to wind up like its namesake, Kendall Vanhook Bumpass, who plunged through the crust there and suffered painful injuries to his leg in 1865. Today, this area and its inhabitants are faced with a new type of change. Rising temperatures are impacting plants and wildlife like the guinea pig-sized pika. This heat intolerant relative of the rabbit thrives in the cool, alpine rock fields in this area and may be forced to seek out a cooler habitat. The pika’s high-pitch squeak is a subtle reminder that we too are impactful. Just as ice erodes, and steam dissolves, our actions can transform the world around us.
Description
The ever-popular Bumpass Hell area is a dramatic showcase of the power of change.
Credit
NPS
Date Created
09/01/2018
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