LASSEN PEAK 1915 LAVA FLOW (NE) CRESCENT CRATER SURVIVORS HILL Area swept by hotblast only Area swept by mudflow and hotblast
Three days later (May 22, 1915) a great explosive eruption blasted out a new crater atop Lassen Peak, just west of the one which had been filled with, and sealed off, by the new lava. A portion of the explosive force was deflected downward. The resulting Hot Blast took the same, but wider, path the mudflow had taken. Trees left standing along the mudflow margins were uprooted or broken off by the blast and thrown down, all pointing away from Lassen Peak for a distance of 3 miles from the summit crater. Of the logs and snags which constitute an important part of this evidence, many have already rotted and weathered away since 1915. Some still show the abrasion and impact marks of mudflow and hotblast missiles.
The young trees growing in the Devastated Area have not been planted by man, but are natural reforestation. In National Parks nature takes its course. Man’s meddling, even though well intentioned, often upsets the balance of nature, with resultant undesirable and unforeseen effects.
In summertime christine lupine (cream-colored) is abundant here. In the fall, rabbitbrush (yellow) is conspicuous.
RABBITBRUSH (yellow)
CHRISTINE LUPINE (pale yellow)
In late summer and fall, deer are numerous on the lower slopes of Lassen Peak. Some of the deer seen here are mule deer and its more common sub-species called the black-tailed deer, both recognized by their tails. The sub-species has a tail entirely black, and the mule deer has only the lower tip black with the remainder the color of its coat.
(0.7 mile)