26 FISSURES may be seen in rocks 100 yards from the road and also near the road between here and stake 27. These cracks, sometimes quite large, are typical of weak zones in volcanic areas.
(0.5 mile)
27 TRAIL SIGN on the down-hill side of the road indicates the start of the trail to Terrace Lake (0.5 mile); Shadow Lake (0.8 mile); and Cliff Lake (1.5 miles). You can also reach the park road again at Summit Lake about (4.0 miles) or at Hat Lake about (3.5 miles).
(0.1 mile)
28 8,000-FOOT ELEVATION MARKER. From here Prospect Peak is visible. Like Mt. Harkness, it is a small but good example of shield volcano. On top of it is a small cinder cone which destroys the low shield-shape cross-section (indicated by the dotted line) characteristic of that type of volcano. At the right base of Prospect Peak is Hat Mountain, and behind it, at its right base, remarkable Cinder Cone in the northeast corner of the park.
Landscape
HAT MT. CINDER CONE PROSPECT PEAK
(1.0 mile)
29 A fine view of UPPER KINGS CREEK MEADOW. This may well have been a lake once, filled in by glacial and stream-borne materials. The level meadow floor caused Kings Creek to move slowly and to wander about “aimlessly” in a pattern called a “meander” by geologists. Where it leaves the flat meadow the stream takes on direction and speed, thus resuming a relatively straight, swift course. As the meadow builds up higher, becoming drier, the encroaching forest will eventually engulf it.