Summer weekend/Day Trips

we did few weekend/Day trips in summer this year. we started weekend family camping in 2nd week of June. First one is Lassen Volcanic NP. 

Lassen volcanic Manzanita Lake Camping:

It was supposed to be 2 night trip, we are supposed to be in the park before sunset.  We left home around 2 on Friday in 2nd week of June, We were in traffic for more than 3 hours on 880 north and 580 W.  It took more than 3 hours to get to I5 from our home. Generally it will an hour drive more or less. Till Tracy, traffic was moving not more than 20 miles at most, sometimes it is like 5 mph and more of the times it is like bumper to bumper traffic.  At tracy we thought we can take break and rejoin the traffic. 

After rejoining the traffic was almost same but it was moving at slow pace may around 20 not sure. we never really stopped. Once we were on I5, it was little better relatively. Till Sacramento, i keep on seeing the same cars, sort of race to reach destination.  We crossed Sacramento just before sunset, Then i decided instead of going directly to campsite, i wanted to stop at Red Bluff or Redding for night stay. We were driving based on day light,  from one of my previous road trips i kind of strongly following not to drive after full dark. When we were 15 or 20 miles away from Red Bluff, Arshiya wanted a break, we stopped for a awhile on roadside to stretch our bodies a bit.  we left may be 10-15 mins of day light.  we reserved a hotel room in Red Bluff and we barely reached before it becomes full dark. 

We prepared food for late lunch, instead we had burgers for late lunch at tracy when we took for first break. Luckily, we need not to go out for dinner, we were so tired when were in hotel room. we just wanted to sleep. 

Next morning we got up by late i think around  8 i guess. it was almost 11 when were in car and about drive to park. It was an hour and 10 mins drive to campground. when enquired about park conditions at the park entrance, i was bit surprised to know Park roads are not open fully. South gate is open till Sulphur works and west/north gate is open till devastated area only. More than 3/4 of park is still covered with snow. 

After check-in to the park, we straight went to campsite, pitched a tent. it was our first visit to manzanita lake campground. instantly we liked the place. we did camping at sequoia, Yosemite few times. it was bit similar landscape with very less crowded, especially, in jun 2nd week very less crowd. if anyone want to enjoy nature with very pleasant and peaceful environment i suggest to visit Lassen Volcanic in shoulder periods of season. 

we went to Devastated area for a hike after small rest, it was 0.5 mile loop in sort of little cold breeze, we needed light jackets. when we stopped at parking lot, another surprise for us, specifically to Arshiya, there was snow every where and in some places snow piled up a lot on either side of the road. Unfortunately we did not prepared for any snow activities, as we were not aware of snow existing. i was kind of hoping i can show snow to Arshiya on peak of mountains. she played in snow for a quick, her dress got wet. when she got little shivering, Lakshmi got Arshiya out of snow. When Arshiya was playing, i went for a small walk on road alone. When i returned Arshiya and Lakshmi was at car.

Then we went to campground, first thing we did was collect wood for campfire. We have no specific plans for this trip, except get away from home for a night or two. we started campfire when enough day light is left. it was Lakshmi’s first experience to taste Indian homemade dehydrated curries. She did not expected the curries to taste that good and Arshiya’s favorite camp food is any dal with green leaves with chips. I was bit tense till the evening how to take care of camp food for Arshiya, especially. One of the agenda of this trip was to get some level of understanding on cooking indian vegetarian food while doing doing outdoor with family. 

While preparing dinner, to our next surprise, it started snowing very very thin flakes. we finished our dinner fast and all three sat around the campfire pit. within 2 hours snow fall picked up the pace. then we sort of said done for the day and wanted to go inside the tent. when we go to sleep    early (i could not remember when i was the last time i slept before 10PM).  we slept good in our cosy sleeping bag/blankets with heavy cushion on top of sleeping pads.  

Lakshmi was the first one we got up and went outside the tent. She asked to Arshiya to come out of the tent to see outside. It was like, in Arshiya’s terms, “winter wonderland”. it was really covered whole area with snow and snowfall continued till we left the campground. 

While driving back, we had discussion on the trip, Both Arshiya and Lakshmi wanted to come back to this place before school starts but for 3-4 days stay.  

Pinnacle National Park:

Pinnacle National Park camping was bit contract experience to our last trip, temperature was very hot.  It suppose to be 2 hour 15 mins drive from our home, instead 1 hour extra it took. we started at before noon i think,  we are there around 3:30 we stopped at general store for a quick information. I came to know about swimming pool at pinnacle park from park website. we checked general store and swimming pool timings then headed to campsite. camp site was open area on side. After quickly put tent in shady area and had quick lunch before we go to pool area.  We were in pool till past 6. 

Then we went for a quick hike at Bear Gulch Cave trail. we did not go to inside the caves as it almost becoming sunset and we could not find much crowd surrounding areas.  it was our first solo family hiking in woods and rocks with very less crowd(we might have seen around 10 people 2 to 3 groups) in 2 miles up and down hike. Even though there was enough time for sunset, it was dark on the trail. 

We hiked as long as Arshiya can comfortably hike, when she tired we stopped there did explored the small caves near by.  Then we returned to parking lot and started driving back to campground. On the way we spotted few deer and its cubs too, we stopped for some time watching them and sun also setting slowly from pinnacles peak.

This isolated park packs surprising beauty, with peaks formed by volcanoes along the San Andreas Fault that are distinct from the surrounding landscape. The park's namesakes are the eroded leftovers of the western half of an extinct volcano that has moved 200 miles (320 km) from its original location on the San Andreas Fault, embedded in a portion of the California Pacific Coast Ranges. it was interesting to know how it is drifted from its original area.

We were not allowed to do campfires in park when we visited. we were at campground watching top of the hills by binoculars, we also bought one for Arshiya from general store. she fully on top of it , finding all birds flying near the tops. thats one of her best time passing for rest of day. After it becoming dark we can see stars sleeping in our tent. we did not cover the top of tent for most of time. just before we to go sleep we covered and opened all tent  zippers for ventilation with mesh on. It was fun to watch stars with Arshiya and she saw few airplanes and thought they are moving shining stars.Next Morning as usual get up, pack up and drive back to home.

Mt. Diablo State Park :

I picked Diablo camping ground for next trip as i am not interested to drive too far and it is near to bay area within the out skirts of Dublin/Concord. We reached the base of Mt Diablo within an hour from our home. But it took a while to drive up even though it is not too far in distance to go to campgroup because of the hair pin trans, Long winding road with blind curves and lot of bikes, i need to extra careful while uphill driving with narrow roads and sharp falls. 

From wikipedia: On a clear day the Sierra Nevada is plainly visible. The best views are after a winter storm; a snowy Sierra shows up better, and summer is likely to be hazy. Lassen Peak, 181 miles (291 km) away, is occasionally just visible over the curve of the earth. Sentinel Dome in Yosemite National Park is also visible. 

But we are not lucky enough to view all the above mountain peaks as it was lot of haze in sky no clear view on any direction. We went to top of the mountain to view the surrounding from there, we could not spend more than 10 mins i guess because of lot of wind. Before we go to top, we wanted to view sunset from the top but after going there we changed our minds instead we wanted to watch from our campground, there is near flat area less than 100 meters from our camp site. we were bit unlucky to watch whole sunset as we dropped two indians with a dog from top of the mountain to group campsite on our way back to campsite. we watched final few mins of sunset.

Big Basin SP :

Big Basin campground was also picked as it near to bay area it is just 22 miles from Saratoga downtown. It also two night camping but we cannot make it as i have work on Friday night. I was not sure when we started but it was around 3PM when we were at park visitor center. we did late check-in and got registration sticker when headed to camp site. Almost all our neighbors were just came or started coming within 1/2 hour to 1 hour window. It is state park we found many Indian families apart from ours. 

Our standard plan for one night camping is to get up in the morning prepare lunch and pickup something drive-thru for a quick bite till we have lunch. we go there and have lunch or pitch a tent relax and have lunch. After having late lunch, we walked on a trail to general store as Arshiya keep on pushing us to general store. Then, started to attend ranger program. it seemed we misunderstood about ranger program and place to gather. we missed one of the evening program before sunset. with disappointment, we walked to General store to pick-up campfire wood and in addition to on-demand we also picked up ice-cream for Arshiya. 

we spent some time there near general store, visitor center and museum before we headed to campfire event before sunset. we were the first one to campfire center, Park Ranger was already there with some kids games and started fire in the large campfire pit. we didn't know she is providing marshmallow with long sticks to use. Arshiya played with some puppet show sticks and did some coloring before campfire started and small crowd gathered. I helped Arshiya to roast one or two Marshmallows. after watching few mins of video about the park, we left to the place. 

While i was making fire ready, Lakshmi and Arshiya went to showers, everything is ready when they returned. to my surprise Lakshmi bought batter to prepare "bonda"  or "punugulu" it is type of indian snack or lite food prepared with black lentils or urad bean. It fun preparing on top of  campfire ring. we prepared dinner one item at a time very relax, we had dinner very slowly. It was a fun day even though we did not do much activity except  spent some time at the tiny creek next to camp site, within 100 ft distance. 
The only problem we experienced there are lot of bugs mainly mosquitos, when have not seen this issue in previous campgrounds. even though we used bug-repellent spray they hit hard on Arshiya. 

Next day before we left to home, we went on a hike with park ranger. we hiking along with crowd for around 40 minutes before Arshiya gave up. Then we returned to visitor center and started driving back. Unfortunately while returning there was big traffic at Saratoga Downtown, a vehicle exhibition was going on, it took us almost 2 hours just to cross saratoga downtown from park entrance. it was suppose to be an hour and 15 mins to home. After crossing saratoga downtown, All three wanted a big break before to continue, i badly needed a coffee from Starbucks. 

Golden Gate:

It was half a day trip just go to Golden gate bridge stop there for some time walk on the bridge and come back, not any other activity is planned. we went there after lunch spent around two hours. luckily it was sunny day we can clearly see the blue sky.
Lot of traffic in san Francisco. we drove very slowly till golden gate, we enjoyed as we don't have any work planned. after more than an hour we reached parking other end of the bridge crossing golden gate bridge.
 I couldn't get any parking spot even after fe w rounds of whole parking lot. Then told Lakshmi and Arshiya get down and have fun, when they are done look for me/car in parking lot. Meanwhile if i get a spot, i would call and figure where to meet. 

i was circling the parking lot to get a spot, after few rounds i got a spot, we went for Lakshmi and Arshiya they were on bridge walked around a mile and planning to return to parking lot. i met them in the middle then we all came back to car. Then we went for drive on CA till the base of Muir wood national monument and drove back from Richmond-San Rafael Bridge watching sunset. 

Ano Nuevo State park:

Gregorio SB:

Lemos Farms at Halfmoon Bay:

2017 Summer camping Trip.

McArthur Burney Falls 

Mt Shasta - Burney Falls - Lassen Volcanic - Clear Lake

Lakshmi and myself decided to take Arshiya on a week long summer camping trip to lakes, waterfalls  and snow mountains, she likes all of them immensely because of reading a sleeping story of frozen frequently. her favorite story.

Burney Falls Trail

Volcanic Legacy Scenic
ByWay vista point

 I kind of decided to cover all three of them in the camping trip and i don't want to drive too far from where we live(San Francisco bay area). After long discussion within family, i kind of narrowed down to Mt. Shasta and Lassen Volcanic NP. I am not where where else i can show snow to Arshiya in summer month August in CA. After fixing locations rest became standard process, finding proper camp grounds to our preferences, like showers must and between the vacation days not interested to drive too long(not more than 2 hours).

As a part of preparing for week long camping trip, i decided to update/upgrade some of my camping gear due our old toyota sedan space limitation(Camry 1995). I upgraded sleeping pads to  one klymit static v2 sleeping pad single and one double size. They ultra-lite and very compact filled the requirement. and i replaced sleeping bag to Rumple  double blanket for 2 people(Arshiya and Lakshmi) and one Feathered friends Hummingbird sleeping bag for Arhisya but she preferred cotton base bear stuffed sleeping bag from Costco. Lakshmi preferred old synthetic thick sleeping bag.  Eventually i used blank most of the days in conjunction with sleeping pads.

Next big preparation is for food, We spent lot energies on what to cook and dehydrate for camping(I kind of used to dehydrate indian vegi food for camping and fruits for snacks). By doing some of day camping before vacation helped us a lot to figure it out what food we can dehydrate. Finally, some green leaf dals, Spinach, Gongura and tomato curries are prepared for camping dinners/lunches. 

Our camping vacation is booked from Aug 13- Aug 20 in 3 different locations( 2 nights at Burney Falls , 3 days at Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic NP and 2 days at Clear Lake). When i made reservation to campgrounds, i thought of leaving in early morning of Aug 13th.  Then i changed my mind because of 5 hours drive with kid in mind instead decided to drive a day before midget of the distance leisurely and wanted to stop where ever we will be by sunset. rough plan was to stop nearer to Mt. Shasta by evening spend some time viewing Mt Shasta views and Beautiful sunset from lake and mountain.

we left home around 2PM in fremont. We drove very relax and hit some traffic at 580. We took little detour at Berkely Downtown to have quick bite and have some medicine But finally we were there for an hour walking in downtown. Finally an hour later we started from Berkely, hit HWY 13 and 24 before 680 and Drove on 680 to I-80 East towards Sacramento.  Then Took exit on 505 HWY to I-5 North.  After merging on to I-5 north took a break at around 6 and had some drinks and milkshake. thought it was quick one but took longer than expected. It was really hot i believe it is around 100F. We could not stand in sun, either we spent time inside restaurant or inside car with A/C on. 

Then we drove non-stop still Dunsmuir, CA, on the way we crossed Red Bluff, Redding and Shasta Lake too. 

We were discussing where to say "good for the day. thinking on each city like Red Bluff, then Sun light was there so decided we go to Redding. It was just 20 miles away. Still Sun did not set when we reach Redding, So we started to drive little north from Redding entered Shasta Lake viewing setting the sun over the lake and views of the Castle Crags (one of the CA State Park  walkable from I-5) drive-through on I-5 North. By the time we reached Shasta Lake, Then i decided to stop at Dunsmuir, CA for the night. When i was reading the maps to go to Burney Falls, i read a lot about Dunsmuir city and their 100 years plus history. I got some level understanding on type of accommodations i can get there.  It is half mile away from I-5 merge and just 6 miles to HWY 89 to Burney Falls.  We stayed at DunsMuir Hotel on Main street, it was build 100 years ago it does not have TV or A/C but I was totaled flattered with their hospitality. 

DunsMuir, CA :

Located in the Shasta Cascade area of Northern California, Dunsmuir is a popular destination for tourists. Visitors come to fish trout in the Sacramento and McCloud Rivers, or to see and climb Mount Shasta, Castle Crags or the Trinity Alps. Visitors ski (both alpine and cross-country) and bicycle, or can hike to the waterfalls, streams and lakes in the area, including nearby Mossbrae Falls, Hedge Creek Falls, Lake Siskiyou, Castle Lake and Shasta Lake.

Morning we got up at own time, no time constraints on this trip, it is planned to relax and spend some quality family time and play with Arhisya. We refreshed at very slow and had breakfast at cafe just right across the road. At around 10AM we are road to drive to McArthur Burney Falls.

Burney-Falls State Park

Drive on Volcanic Legacy Scenic ByWay to Burney Falls from Dunsmuir, CA is very  beautiful.  Seeing Mt. Shasta from different views on the road stopped for few vista points to capture majestic Mt. Shasta. One the way stopped at McCloud for camping shopping for propane cylinder, some veggies and campfire accessories. It was around 12 by the time we reached Burney Falls, luckily our camp site is empty we were allowed to go directly to campsite.  It was the best California State Park campground so far.

We straight went to campground and pitched a tent, prepared a nice desi lunch and took some rest. in the evening, we thought there was program at campfire for kids, went there some kids program. But, unfortunately we could not find any program, not sure why? Then we thought we can go for loop hike around falls. it drops to 100 ft  within 0.3 miles and climbs back to the same elevation increases more gradually with the distance of 0.8 miles.
 This is the first hiking trip for Arshiya and going easy. we stopped when ever Arshiya wanted to stop and played in water some time when we stopped at bottom of the falls and along the creek. Then we went to campground. picked wood for campfire for night and other accessories for night campfire. It Was almost 10 by the time we cooked and had dinner in warm campfire. And finally, had bath and went for sleep.

Next morning, when i come out of the tent. we found one hiker just sleeping on ground with alcohol bottle side to him. Lakshmi got scared by seeing the setup. By seeing him and his luggage, i instantly knew he thru-hiker doing PCT(Pacific Crest Trail, starting from Mexican border to Canada border)  NoBo ( NorthBound - headed to North). I knew PCT details from one of my Sandiego colleague, Tim Umstead, his family is one of the famous family in Thru-Hike especially in PCT community. I knew PCT trail goes through middle of Burney Falls State park. For most the thru-hikers, Burney Falls park general store is one of the pick up location for their re-supply packages. When he woke up, i went to him and got introduced myself. started talking about his PCT experience.

He is around late 20s from southern CA doing North Bound on PCT.
Last night was town day for him and his group. they went to town for getting resupply things, by the time they are in park it was late night i believe he might be so tired and slept where ever he can find a place, it happened to be near to our camp and tent. His group is around 6 people, planning to complete whole PCT in 100 days. to complete whole PCT 2650 miles covering in 100 days by foot is very daunting task. Most of the people i knew or following are doing in some where 5 to 6 months, means some where between 150 days to 180 days.  On average 26.5 miles they need to complete day after day for next 100 days. while talking to us, his group member is crossing by the the tent, he packed his stuff and left with him  to continue hiking. 

After he left, we had very late breakfast. spent some time leisurely at camp site. by 1PM went to burned city for lunch and to buy something to play at camp sites for next 6 days. Burney city is very near it did not take even 30 mins to get there.

We stopped at first shopping center we can find some sports, pharmacy and restaurant. First had lunch, then picked some medicines for Arshiya and Lakshmi. Then went to sports shop and picked shuttle bats.

It was almost 4 by the time we started. I drove directly to lake Britton, it has swim beach. Arshiya loves water any day, So myself and Arshiya   played in the lake, water was little cold but manageable. We were there for more than an hour to 2. Then we went to waterfalls one more time with the idea of doing loop hike one more time. After going to bottom of Water falls, we saw the day light and Arshiya energy levels decided just go campsite before enough light is left. When we hiked up to parking lot, we saw two deers, mother and cute little cub. it is very close encounter for Arshiya, We were there till Arshiya wanted to leave.  We came early to campground, prepared nice desi dinner had some chit chat went to sleep when we tired. inside the bed, Arshiya is telling stories and jokes non-stop. we were just listening. She is into sleeping alone in her Costco Bunny cotton sleeping bag and she enjoys now unlike our night camping earlier in the summer. we are not sure when we slept. we woke up late. i need to leave campsite by 12, we have enough time to pack and leave. I knew it is just 50 mins drive to next camp ground at Manzanita Lake in Lassen Volcanic NP.

we had breakfast and started packing at our own time frame, it is very funny we are just 3 people with one small tent and sleeping bags. it took almost more than 2 hours to pack. with in 2 hours almost all campers near to us packed everything and left 30 mins before to us. Now i am sort of fine on unpacking and setting campsite with tent. I need to learn how to pack things first or i need to learn little bit about organizing things, i need to work a little bit on it.

Manzanita Lake, Lassen Volcanic National Park

Just before 12 we left Burney Falls checked out, then we are onto Lassen Volcanic NP. I stopped at OldStation in the middle for gasoline and to have some lunch. it was really a surprise shock for us to have very tasty burger and sandwiches in the middle of no-where. It was really very hot temperature wiss and it was middle of 90's. after lunch, we explored  Subway Cave and the underground world of a lava tube/cave near oldstation, ca  at junction of state route 44 and 89. It is 1/3 mile long and cave completely dark, floor is very rough and chill too. better carry flash light, sturdy shoes and jacket while planning to go.

After coming out of cave, we left for next camp site in Manzanita Lake. it is just 15 mins drive from OldStation. i drove very slow than required speed limit and gave access to other vehicles as i was driving first time on these routes i am also viewing landscapes. I enjoy driving remote lands for some reason i liked them a lot. By the time we reach camp site it was almost 5, our camp site was in C-Loop and unfortunately it is one of the few open site, where most of the day time sun hits whole campsite. i waited till sunset i found better shade place to pitch a tent. I put a tent little far from picnic table and campfire pit in the middle of trees. rest of the day we took rest and explored what we can get from general store and spent reading whole map to have some plans for next two days. I want to take Arshiya on one small hike at least for an hour or little more than an hour hike that means around 2 miles nearly with no elevation trails or very negligible elevation for each day. Finally locked first day just drove the park till other entrance(Kohm Yah-mah -nee entrance) and the following day do one little reasonable hike( mostly King Creek trail) and do some lite activities for the rest  of the each day. I am also expecting some level of snow play at park higher elevations.  

That night was simple, prepared dinner(interesting we prepared rotis and desi ridge gourd and un-mashed mixed lentils and it was really good) and took rest for next days activties  in mind. while preparing and having the dinner, i got some new ideas on how to dehydrate few desi vegetarian recipes and got some first hand experience on what dehydrated foods working and what not working or how to fix it to make little better while making actual meals out of dehydrated food. By the middle of this trip i was very comfortable with desi lunch/dinner preparations while camping as i already have experimented by taking family on few one night camping trips near bay area  before the one week long vacation. 

Next morning simple, no cooking just went to general store,  picked cheese sandwich for Lakshmi and Arshiya and we were on the road by 11AM. we spent some at summit lake, devastated area, paradise meadows viewing drive through and our first stop was at lassen peak trailhead parking lot. We stopped car at parking lot got down there explored the place. unfortunately we did not do lassen peak hike. Lakshmi was really interested to do the hike. may be in next few years we plan again for hiking when Arshiya get used to doing hikes.

Earlier this year in june first week when we were there for a night it snowed whole night in the same Manzanita lake camp group But she did not know there will more than enough snow on the side of the roads to play in summer too, based on snow level on that year. Luckily, last year it snowed a lot on sierra mountains and it still left without 100% meltdown. may be it will fully melt in next 2-3 weeks.  It was really sweet surprise for Arshiya, we can see her excitement. i let her play in snow for more than an hour. Then, i pushed hard Lakshmi and Arshiya to leave the place to drive further. One the way lakshmi was noting down where to spend time while coming back and the following day. next i stopped at Sulphur-works. Unfortunately, Arshiya is not comfortable with sulphur smell, so we needed to take her away from sulphur smell. lakshmi and myself walked on that small sulphur works pathway separately. 

Then finally we went to Kohm Yak-Mah-nee visitor center and were there for around 2 hours. explored surroundings then went inside the building. Movie about lassen volcanic np was about to start, we watched whole movie about lassen national park how it is started and sort of gives an idea of what might have happened in the park over a period of time. and and it also shows definitive incidents that are captured in recent history. After watching i came to know Lassen NP is one of the rare volcanic place/park where all four types of volcanic activities happened.
we had late lunch at visitor center food stall. on the way back to campsite, we stopped at many places like emerald lake, Lake Helen, Bumpass Hell, Summit lake, King Creek Trail Head. We gave a attempt to him king creek waterfall hike and mist waterfall hike but we immediately gave after Arshiya consideration, she was so tired at Emerald lake. i think playing in snow and walking on snow for more than 30 mins killed all her energy it seems. We decided to hike king creek falls next morning then we straight went to Campground. with a stop at general store to enquire for kayaking with kid options. we were told it is doable many families bought their own kayaking to floating boards. (i inspired to learn swimming at least learn to float so i can also able to do such things, i make a note from this trip).  we took one hour kayaking, except me Lakshmi or Gingiri are newbies,  while doing kayaking Arshiya started shaking the kayaking, that made Lakshmi and myself very nervous and especially Lakshmi got very tense and asked to go to shore. thats the end of kayaking after 30 mins.  i had a hell of a time to steer kayaking and also it was windy not too much but my shoulder and hand muscles are burnt out after 30 mins kayaking. Other than that we did very lite activities first thing we took bathes at general store and was there in camp site way before sunset and started dinner preparation. we had finished dinner, while preparing dinner Lakshmi and Arshiya played games, badminton and Chutes and Ladders, i was not sure who is cheating who But they  continuously played.

What Is a Volcano

A volcano is a vent that directly connects magma to the surface of the Earth.

Cinder Cone, AKA Scoria Cone:

Cinder cones are usually created from a single opening. The opening of a cinder cone is a cone-shaped structure, while the steeps are formed of the erupted, fragmented cinders that fall close to the chimney/vent.

The manner of eruption for cinder cones is relatively simple. When the lava erupts, cinders of it are blown into the air. These fragmented cinders fall a short distance from the opening, thus creating the cone.

Shield Volcano:

Another type of volcano is the shield volcano. Unlike cinder cones, shield volcanoes can be very, very big in size. However, they are not as dangerous as that size might make it seem. This is because the eruption of lava out of shield volcanoes is not accompanied by pyroclastic material (bursts of gas and particles).

Shield volcanoes may be tall but tend to be very broad, with less steep slopes than other volcanoes.

Shield volcanoes can be huge because of their ample supply of magma. For example, Mauna Loa is a shield volcano that rises more than 30,000 feet above its base on the bottom of the ocean.

Composite Volcano:

The general structure of composite volcanoes is tall and symmetrical and with steep sides. Commonly, composite volcanoes erupt hot gases, ash, lava, and pumice as well as stiff, slow-moving lava. Moreover, deadly mudflows—also commonly known as ‘lahars’—can also accompany the eruption.

Composite volcanoes are believed to kill the most people because of their deadly nature and high numbers. Mount Shasta and Mt. Rainier  Care two famous composite volcanoes.

Lava Dome Volcano:

They are formed when the lava is too viscous to flow to a great distance. As the lava dome slowly grows, the outer surface cools and hardens as the lava continues to pile within. Eventually, the internal pressure can shatter the outer surface, causing loose fragments to spill down its sides. Generally, such lava domes are found on the flanks of larger composite volcanoes.