Turquoise and milky-white hydrothermal pools and a dark mud pot in the crust at Bumpass Hell, Lassen Volcanic National Park.

Alien Grounds

Bumpass Hell, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California

My first time anywhere like this. The smell reaches you before the view does, and then the colours arrive all at once — turquoise, rust, chalk-white, all within a few feet of each other. I didn't want a picture that explained where it was. I wanted the version that reads like a surface photographed from orbit, so I framed out the sky, the boardwalk and every other clue to scale.

Nikon Z 7_2 · TAMRON 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD A057Z · 280mm · f/11 · 1/2000 · ISO 400

June 30, 2026

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Sunrise light catching steam from the fumaroles of Bumpass Hell, framed by mountain hemlock, Lassen Volcanic National Park.

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