Before getting to this weeks desktop, there's a couple of things I wanted to remind you about.  First, expect the next update to be on time, January 21st.   Second, the previous weeks wallpaper is always still available by clicking the preview to the left found on this page.  Enjoy!

Above is this weeks free desktop.  Back this week to a park which has been featured here several times, once again enjoy the wonder that is Lassen Volcanic National Park.  Located in northeastern California, the landscape of Lassen is filled the reminders of a turbulent past and showcases just how active it still is today.  Until Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, this was the most recent volcanic outburst in the contiguous 48 states with its 1914 event.  The eastern portion of the park sets on a large lava plateau with many small cinder cones present.  The painted dunes and lava bed remnants around Butte Lake are very impressive and this area offers some fantastic exploration opportunities.  The western portion of the park contains very active volcanic elements - mudpots, boiling pools, and steaming sulphur vents (but no true geysers here) and the world's largest plug volcano, Lassen Peak which just so happens to be the main subject of this weeks shot.  Lassen Peak stands an impressive 10457 ft tall, and if one is up to the task, offers a magnificent perspective for viewing a major portion of the park with a 5 mile (round trip) trail to its top.  This photo was taken in August 2006 around 11 miles away from Lassen on the rim of a 700 ft cinder cone called Cinder Cone (good name (; ) about 45 minutes before sunset.  Cinder Cone is located in the Butte Lake area with only a fairly simple 3.5 miles round trip hike between you and a great adventure.  The trail takes you up close and personal to some wonderful views of lava flows, but the real the fun part of this experience is climbing Cinder Cone.  The trail to the rim has to be one of the steepest I've been on and the surface is very loose, like course sand.  Imagine walking up a 700 foot sand dune at 7000 ft elevation.  It's interesting, real interesting.  This one lets you know just how good of shape you're really in.  Now once you get to the top, you are rewarded with a fantastic view well worth the effort required to reach it, at least in my opinion.  With a centrally located scenic road for easy sight seeing and over 100 miles of trails to explore, Lassen Volcanic is a great adventure just waiting for your visit.