In May of 1915, after a 27,000-year nap, Lassen Peak blew ash, rock, and pumice 30,000 feet into the air. But Lassen Peak is only the largest lava dome that has formed around the base of the long gone and much larger Ancestral Brokeoff Volcano. At its largest, Brokeoff Volcano (aka Mount Tehama) was fifteen miles wide at its base and 11,000 feet high. Six hundred thousand years ago, it erupted in an explosion fifty times greater than the 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens.
Present day Brokeoff Mountain in Lassen Volcanic National Park is a remnant of that much larger ancestral volcano. It’s southern and western slopes trace a gentle rise up the former Brokeoff Volcano until you reach the summit where the mountain was – you guessed it – broken off, leaving a sheer drop on the far side.
I hiked to the top of nearby Lassen Peak years ago. While Lassen is higher (10,457 feet) than Brokeoff (9,235 feet), the views from Brokeoff are fabulous and the hike is widely viewed as the nicest in the park.
Dave Sellers, a longtime friend and a great artist (www.DaveSellers.com), is a Morgan Hill product who has relocated to Lake Almanor near Lassen Park. Recently, I went to visit Dave and his wife Chris, and see their new home. Any time we get together, we do what brought us together twenty-five years ago – head toward the mountains.
I put myself in Dave’s hands, and knowing my preference for high open spaces, he pointed toward Brokeoff Mountain. We left before sunrise, grabbed a foo-foo coffee at a local shop, and set out on the forty-five minute drive to the trailhead inside the park. We were the only car in the roadside parking lot (6,635 feet), when we crossed the road and stepped onto the trail.
The first two miles climb gently through a forest of western white pines, mountain hemlock, and red fir interrupted by several creek crossings lined with beautiful boggy meadows. The conifers must love the extra moisture that comes to the northern part of the state. Dave and I stopped several times to admire the massive height and girth of the trees we passed.
We finally popped above the trees onto the broad rocky south side of the mountain. Clearly, this is inhospitable terrain. The few hemlocks and whitebark pines that dot this rocky slope are gnarled and wind-twisted versions of the stalwarts we saw below.
Rather than a series of switchbacks, the trail rose along one very long traverse across the slope, then doubled back to the summit. And what a spectacular summit! On the far side of the peak, the “broken off” portion of the mountain is a stunning one-step-to-the-bottom drop. Beyond, a barren landscape of red volcanic rock, sparsely dotted with pines, rose steadily up to Lassen Peak. To the left, Mt. Shasta was visible in the distance.
At the top of the mountain, a raging 30-mph wind pushed a hypothermic wind chill. It was play time for two golden eagles that put on an impressive acrobatic display right beside us: rise on the wind; tilt and slide off of it; pull wings into a steep and amazingly fast dive; repeat. Above us, we watched sheer wispy clouds continuously condense in the same spot, then ride the wild wind over the peak and disappear.
I don’t know how many stars one gives a spectacular hike, but this 7.4-mile loop gets the maximum. When you visit Lassen Volcanic National Park, if you only take one hike, go to Brokeoff Mountain.
