Arrival:
Before I get to the photograph above, some
background information is appropriate
Lassen National Park is in north-eastern California, near the north end
of the Sierra Nevada range. Its centerpiece is Mt. Lassen, a 3200 m
(10500 ft) lava plug mountain. As large as Lassen is, it is
only part of an ancestral volcano named Mt. Tehama (which self-obliterated
long ago). Mount Lassen's last eruption began 19 May 1915, so this is
still a very active volcano! It has many geothermally active areas you
can visit--do a web search on "Bumpass Hell" and you will see some
neat photographs of one of my favorite places. Some day Mt. Lassen will
erupt again, and probably kill a lot of people. That is something I think
about when I visit. (Of course, every time I visit San Francisco my
blood pressure spikes--will the buildings fall down on me today?)
Anyway, our carnivorous plant wanderings were to the south of Lassen National
Park, just outside the park boundaries. North of the town of Chester there
is a scattering of lakes in the national forest, and some of them are
perfect for carnivorous plants.
This lake is on the property of a boy scout camp. Beth and I asked permission
from the sentinels at the road leading into the camp, and they graciously
let us visit. A hive of cabins, lunch halls, and meeting lodges clustered on
one side of the lake, all humming with boy scouts and scout
leaders. I was never a boy scout, but the place was much as I expected a
camp to be. Very wholesome, very hearty. Wood chips, pocket knives, rope,
compasses, canteens.
Don't mistake my tone--I enjoyed our visit, and
the staff was very helpful. They even lent Beth and
me a canoe and gear so we could explore the lake more easily.
The log in this photo
was accessible only by boat (or swimming, if you like
frigid water), and was held in place in the deep water by long, dead
branches stuck into the lake bed. Growing on the log, all the red stuff, is
Drosera rotundifolia.
Check out the saturated colors in the water, sky, and plants. That's real.
That's Lassen for you!
This area is completely
covered with snow and ice for about 6 months of the year.
