2026 Trick Tracks Pacific Coast Tour with Scott Taggart, Sat August 15, 2026

Fall River to Eureka Burger in Roseville

Fall River Hotel to Eureka Burger Roseville 6h22m, 291 miles

Social and kickoff meeting Saturday 8/15 6:00 pm
Eureka! Burgers / 234 Gibson Dr Suite 100, Roseville, CA 95678

At the Fall River Hotel, I woke up early, after only 6 hrs of sleep, excited to get moving. I made coffee with the Keurig machine which overflowed my cup and made a mess of weak coffee. Then I went across the street to the actual coffee shop which had a distinct Jesus, Born-Again vibe. I was about to leave, but the owner came in and I ordered a latte and had one of their terrible scones. I could feel the shortening settling into my arteries. There's something about the vibe of these MAGA towns that really turns me off.

Heading out of town, signs warned of 30 minute traffic delays, but I got lucky and was stopped for only 4 minutes.

Temperature dropped to 55F (13C) as I climbed into Lassen Park.

Lassen 1914 erruption vs Mt St. Helens in 1980

TBD research 1917 erruption https://www.usgs.gov/news/featured-story/eruptions-lassen-peak-california-1914-1917-a-centennial-commemoration

Both Lassen Peak (which erupted during a sequence from 1914 to 1917, peaking in May 1915) and Mount St. Helens (1980) are subduction-zone volcanoes in the Cascade Arc that produced explosive dacitic eruptions. However, while they shared similar mechanisms, Mount St. Helens was vastly larger, more violent, and far more destructive.

Key Similarities

* Trigger & Magma Type: Both eruptions were driven by gas-rich, highly viscous dacite magma pushing upward into the volcano's plumbing system. * Eruptive Sequence: Neither was a single isolated event. Both involved initial phreatic (steam/ash) explosions, dome growth, major lateral/pyroclastic blasts, and subsequent lahars (mudflows) fed by melted snowpack. * Impact Pattern: Both produced a directed hot blast that leveled timber—leaving trees aligned in rows pointing away from the crater—followed by devastating lahars flowing down nearby river drainages (*Hat Creek / Lost Creek* at Lassen; the *Toutle / Cowlitz Rivers* at Mount St. Helens).

Major Differences

| Feature | Lassen Peak (1914–1917 / May 1915) | Mount St. Helens (May 18, 1980) | | --- | --- | --- | | Explosive Magnitude | Volcanic Explosivity Index: VEI 3 | Volcanic Explosivity Index: VEI 5 | | Plume Height | ~30,000 feet (~9.5 km) | ~80,000 feet (~24 km) | | Primary Trigger | Internal magmatic pressure & dome collapse | Mass sector collapse (massive earthquake-triggered landslide) | | Blowdown Area | ~1.5 miles wide (~4.5 million board feet of timber) | ~230 square miles (~1 billion board feet of timber) | | Casualties | 0 direct deaths (area was evacuated/sparsely populated) | 57 deaths | | Ejected Material | ~0.03 $\text{km}^3$ of ash and rock | ~1.0 $\text{km}^3$ of material (roughly 30x larger volume) |

Summary of Impact

Lassen Peak: The 1915 eruption was a focused, localized event. Its hot pyroclastic flow and snowmelt created the iconic Devastated Area within Lassen Volcanic National Park, but its primary impact remained largely within a few miles of the summit.

Mount St. Helens: The 1980 eruption caused the largest recorded landslide in human history, tearing off the entire north flank of the mountain and generating a massive lateral blast that altered the regional geography across hundreds of square miles.


Day 0 — Fall River to Roseville


Fall River Hotel to Eureka Burger Roseville (6h22m, 291 miles)


Ride Log

TimeMinuteskmkph avgComment
8:25am2.5 packing after coffee
8:28am3.74 km58 kph
8:32am3.9 waiting for road construction
8:36am38.958 km90 kph
9:15am1.4 (not) Panoramic Point Roadside Rest pee break
9:16am10.814 km80 kph
9:27am1.5 Manzanita Lake pic
9:28am13.515 km66 kph
9:42am7.8 Hot Rocks interp sign
9:50am3.03 km68 kph
9:53am4.1 Devastated Area interp sign and dog on bike
9:58am28.522 km47 kph
10:26am11.3 Bumpass Hell Trailhead
10:37am59.24 km5 kphHiking the Bumpass Hell Trail
11:37am4.0 back at the bike
11:41am90.7124 km82 kph
1:12pm47.4 lunch at Chico Burrito Bandito
1:59pm25.434 km80 kph
2:25pm4.6 fuel stop Maverick Oroville
2:30pm70.997 km82 kph
3:41pm92.2 Scott's house
5:13pm25.316 km37 kph
5:39pm21.0 checking into my room, dropping bags
6:00pm10.54 km21 kph
6:10pm71.4 team dinner Eureka! Burger
7:22pm9.48 km50 kph
7:32pm1.6 fuel stop Safeway
7:33pm7.15 km39 kph
7:41pm44.2 Scott's house for chocolate moose
8:25pm15.913 km47 kph
8:42pm3.0 map
8:41pmat my room
 
12h14m6h57m moving425 km61.1 kph57% moving, 316 minutes of breaks



Fall River Mills

Fall river is VERY decked our for the USA 250 anniversary. Feels like Jesus + Trump Country

Lassen National Park

Bumpass Hell

Burrito Bandito --- Chico

Arrrived Roseville at Scott Taggart's house

Group dinner at Eureka! Burger