Even surrounded by hordes, I think geysers are pretty cool. I’d like to see them without the hordes one day — maybe they’d be even cooler. Ah. Well.

Chromatic Pool with some steamers in the background.

Nature’s take on the dreamsicle.

Two senior citizens walk up the sunny-day boardwalk toward their doom.

Morning Glory Pool — by midday, the colors fade to brownish-gray.

Some steam and a cloud that I liked.

Eleven minutes late.

I like the colors. If I’m in the area again, I’d stop by and check out the Upper Geyser Basin again. Probably wouldn’t need to overnight it or anything, unless someone unearths some sort of incredible hike in the area, though. There are, just, too many people all trying to look at the same things here. IMHO. Always IMHO.

Oh, and the Yellowstone animal tally:

• Two elk (one buck, one doe).
• Three chipmunks.
• No bears.
• Infinite bison.

bkd

Was originally planning on hiking up Lassen Peak, but I got to the parking lot, couldn’t breathe, realized I was at 8,500 feet, and decided to give myself another day to acclimate. So I went and did something easier, instead: hiked the Bumpass Hell Trail to Bumpass Hell (the name kept me thinking about the movie A Christmas Story — I think the Bumpasses were the neighbors with the dogs) and then continued on to Crumbaugh Lake (8 mi. r/t).

Er, so in case it wasn’t obvious from the name (?), Bumpass Hell is this sort of geothermal fumerole place, apparently named after its discoverer who fell in twice and ended up losing a leg. So it’s more of a personal hell than a universal one.

And, yes, it smelled like rotten eggs.

And then I was confronted with the shadow of a one-armed gunfighter.

Crumbaugh Lake — looks idyllic when you aren’t there to hear the bugs in your ears (no, that’s not a Kafka reference).

Brokeoff Mountain (actual name), where Northern California’s gay cowboys would be going to get married if Prop 8 hadn’t passed.

View of Lassen Peak from the Bumpass Hell Trial Trail (just a typo, not a Kafkaesque slip).

Bumpass Hell was pretty cool-looking, well worth the first half of the hike. Going on to the lakes was fine, but I would’ve been okay without it. Maybe just because I’d seen more picturesque lakes very recently.

And now I should probably leave before the Taco Bell employees in Klamath Falls get nervous about me being here for an hour and a half.

bkd