A Place Called Bumpass Hell

I’m settling into life on the “better coast,” as some people call it… I still love you, New Jersey! But I can’t complain, life is pretty good here and Owen and I are slowly making this place feel like our home. I’m still going to the free yoga class at Santana Row every Saturday that we’re here. What I really love about yoga is how relaxing it is. Unfortunately, the lead-up to the classes I go to never seem relaxing… in Sumter I remember sprinting to class one week to make it in time. And last time I went here I set my alarm for PM instead of AM and woke up about 20 minutes before class started… mind you, it’s a 3 mile bike ride away. I rode like a bat out of hell and somehow made it in time. I’ve also still been going to the BLAST workout (strength training). Last class, we were doing two minutes of wall sits, which is hell on earth, as you can probably imagine. We were next to some bushes and I spotted a Blue Moon beer, which I pointed out to everyone around me to distract us. Well, over the course of the two minutes I found five more bottles hiding in the bushes (the full six pack!), and by the end of wall sits we were all singing 99 bottles of beer in the bushes. We’re also still loving Santana Row, the super fancy restaurant area near us. They host free concerts on Wednesdays this month so Owen and I checked it out last week. British guy in a jump suit, singing Police songs, what more could we ever want?

Free concert!

As some of you know, I’m training for a trail marathon, and while I have been logging long runs, none of them have been on trails yet. There aren’t any trail systems within running distance to me, which is why I’ve been putting it off. But last week I carefully crafted a scheme in which Owen would drop me and my bike off at a park on his way to work, I’d do the long trail run, then bike home. Last Thursday we executed the plan at Sanborn County Park, in the Santa Cruz Mountains about 9 miles away from us. Mistake number one: assuming the trail map is accurate. I came across a junction in a place there definitely wasn’t one on the map. I backtracked, tried to figure out with certainty where I was, and finally just chose one way to go, carefully marking the way back with breadcrumbs (actually an arrow made of sticks). Well, I ran for a few minutes then passed a downed tree across the trail that I had already passed before. I had gone in a big circle! It was pretty terrifying, and I ran all the way back down the mountain to the parking lot, where I knew for sure where I was. Mistake number two: watching the movie Deliverance the night before. For those of you who haven’t seen the movie, it’s about a group of guys that paddle a remote river in Georgia and encounter crazy backwoods people who stalk them. The experience of getting lost was that much scarier because of the movie, and it was made even more frightening when I ran past this guy standing frozen in the middle of the trail, holding a joint, staring off into space who didn’t move or say a word when I offered a hello. I finally found a different trail to run on and the next several miles passed in a painful uphill battle, then a hurling downhill battle, all whilst carefully rationing my water supply. I had the usual fantasy sequence running through my head: ice-cold water, soft serve, Italian ice, soda, beer, and so on. Let’s just say I was very grateful to finish this particular run. The bike ride home was actually really enjoyable. It was almost all downhill, so I zoomed home and made the ultimate treat: an orange cream float. Sometimes I don’t even understand why I put myself through the torture of long-distance running, but one thing is a fact: ice cream floats always make it worth it.

The look of a crazed runner

Owen’s birthday was two weekends ago, and he had military training all weekend (he’s in the CA National Guard). While I did make him a feast for dinner on his birthday, we couldn’t do much else. So, this past weekend we celebrated his birthday by going to Lassen Volcanic National Park, in northern CA. We left at the bright hour of two o’clock in the morning (Owen’s idea) and made it to the park an hour or two after the sun came up. We pulled into the visitor’s center parking lot to get our bearings and an interesting phenomenon was happening. Tons of people appeared to have slept in and on their cars in the parking lot that night. I say ‘on’ their cars because there was a car that had a doghouse looking structure on top of it with a ladder leading up to it. I wanted to climb up the ladder to wake them up, but Owen talked me out of it.

Our journey through the park that day started at a place called Sulphur Works, which was a hydrothermal area with boiling mudpots and steam vents. It was the first time I’d ever seen hydrothermal/volcanic action like that and I was frankly shocked. I didn’t even know what I was looking at until I read the signs. Certain microorganisms can survive in superheated areas, and they create crazy colors in the rock, though I think my explanation is just as informative: “It looks like a rainbow threw up!” Nothing could have prepared me for our next stop- a short hike to none other than Bumpass Hell, the aptly named largest geothermal area in the park with mudpots, bubbling pools, and steam vents. Basically, it felt like we were on an alien planet and I was so amazed I gave myself hiccups on the hike back. I overheard this British guy later in the day calling it Bumparse Hell. I didn’t think you could make that name any more awesome, but he proved me wrong. We whiled away the afternoon reserving a campsite, hiking around Manzanita Lake, and enjoying some much needed napping. We feasted on macaroni and cheese, then enjoyed s’mores around a campfire as the sun set. Our visit to the park coincided with the Dark Sky Festival, a yearly event where astronomers and park rangers host night star gazing and other sorts of events. Apparently, Lassen is one of the last so-called darkness sanctuaries, so it’s a perfect place for this kind of thing. So later that night we drove over to the parking lot for Bumpass Hell where there were tons of telescopes set up to view the moon, Saturn, Mars, and lots of other neat things. Finally, the call of sleep took over and we headed back to the campground and settled in for a long night of sleep. I woke in the middle of the night to uh, powder my nose, and the stars were SO AMAZING! The moon had finally set a bit, so it was much darker than before.

Bumpass Hell

Or should I say Bumparse Hell?

The calm waters of Manzanita Lake

I woke up a bit before Owen the next morning and lounged in the tent as our neighbor softly strummed a guitar and two deer came to snack only a few feet from our tent! It was definitely a magical moment. That morning we did a short hike to a waterfall to stretch our legs, then it was time to head back to reality. I actually drove part of the way home! My rusty manual skills came right back to me.

Kings Creek Falls

And finally, some news on the job front… I just got a part time job working in a running store! I found out yesterday, and promptly celebrated by dancing around the house banging a pan to the music. Today was my first day of work. Let's just say there were running shoes everywhere, even in the bathroom! It's kind of like my heaven. Next up, we are returning to the Motherland (NJ) for a friend's wedding and bagels on bagels on bagels... my favorite kind of adventure!