32 Adventures in Scenery 



nature, find in these less frequented Sierra slopes a genial habitat. 

 It is high, but not the highest. It is rough, but not the roughest. 

 It is a rocky mountain desert, but there are no horned toads or 

 cacti. It is a grand mountain panorama that greets the eye. 

 Whether it is the grandest or not depends upon the observer. 

 It is alpine mountain scenery of a noble type. 



Lassen Peak Lava Field 



Lassen Peak lava field lies ahead. This great peak and lava 

 field are in northern California between the Sacramento Valley 

 on the west and the Great Basin on the east. The Peak marks 

 the southern terminus of the Cascade Range. It is a great vol- 

 canic cone surrounded by a lava field which lies in a depression 

 between the Klamath Mountains and the northern end of the 

 Sierra Nevada Range. The peak is of volcanic origin, like 

 Mounts Shasta, Hood, and Rainier. Running northwest 

 through this great lava field is Lassen Peak Volcanic Ridge, 

 formed by a belt of volcanoes 2 5 miles in width and 5 miles in 

 length. Its great peaks, such as Butt Mountain, Lassen Peak, 

 Crater Peak, Burney Butte, and a host of other smaller conical 

 hills, are all ancient volcanoes. The lava which issued from 

 earth's interior through many volcanic chimneys has formed 

 conical hills or mountains about each vent. This great volcanic 

 ridge was built up by the eruption from over 120 vents. Some 

 of the craters are more than a mile in diameter. Lassen Peak 

 is connected by lava with Mt. Shasta 70 miles to the north and 

 west. It is regarded as the southern end of the Cascade Range. 

 From the volcanic vents of this (Cascade) range were emitted 

 the lavas which make up what is perhaps the largest lava field 

 in the world, extending eastward covering a large part of 

 northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 

 estimated to be 200,000 square miles in extent. 



The latest eruption in the Lassen Peak district occurred at 

 Cinder Cone 10 miles northeast of Lassen Peak about 200 years 

 ago. Some of the trees killed at the time are still standing. 



