Carleton Watkins’ “Lassen Peak” (1870) from the heart of the youthful and catastrophic lava domes of Chaos Crags. August, 2007.
Watkins' picture courtesy the U.S.G.S, Denver, Colorado.
Carleton Watkins visited Lassen Peak in 1870 with 28 year-old Clarence King as part of the government survey of the 40th parallel. Watkins made his picture from Chaos Crags in what is now Lassen Volcanic National Park.
The massive scale of the rocks in Chaos Crags is somewhat disorienting in both the picture and at the site. Some of the largest stones in the area are over fifty feet high. Note that there are two figures in the contemporary scene; one in the bottom center, and a second near the bottom left corner of the Watkins' picture.
On a personal note, this is one of the few landscapes I've encountered that was so rugged and dynamic that it gave me nightmares. It is also the first picture I've ever relocated principally using GoogleEarth. I was able to match the snow patterns on Lassen in the historic view with current satellite imagery, then project the vantage point back into Chaos Crags. Here's a link to a GoogleEarth placemark that I established before setting out to make the rephotograph: Download watkins_vantage_point_from_chaos_crags.kmz.zip
Byron
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