The painted dunes

Our last day in Lassen before heading north to Mount Shasta and we decided to do a detour to the less visited side of the park to check out the 'cinder cone' and the painted dunes.

The cinder cone was a volcano formed around 1650 that is 750 feet high and spread lava flows and volcanic ash around the surrounding area. There are thought to be older cinder cones in the area as well and the combination of all these eruptions has led to layers of different coloured ash forming the painted dunes.

Incredibly stunning, but also incredibly hard to get a good photograph - especially during the middle of the day in over 30 degree heat!!