Hike to the Boiling Lake II

We cautiously climbed over narrow muddy footholds that descended into the valley of desolation. This was super neat! As in, when I looked up to see the valley of desolation, I had truly NEVER seen anything like it in my life. I saw pictures online but it didn’t do it justice. The gaseous ground, did, reminded me of a scene in the cat/dog movie of Milo & Otis (kudos to anyone who remembers that childrens movie. I watched that movie on my Dads lap in 17 Rising Lane Long Island NY when I was a kid). The smell of sulfur was so strong you could taste it and when the wind changed and the steam rolled into your face you could feel and taste it. Joy… Mike and I wore our chaos sandals so our feet could feel the heat of the earth beneath us… which I found a little…. intimidating. The earth was cakey and almost sponge-like in some areas. In the stream some people have been known to cook a raw egg…. I didn’t see the appeal in that.
The photo of all the steam is a fumarole, a crack, which gas escapes. Since the last major eruption was 800 AD… I’m not terribly concerned.

Anyway. Another great sight was the fact we saw a black stream… a lot of them in fact. Created out of basalt. The other streams of green, grey, and white… I’m less sure of but hot dang! they sure are cool looking.Read more