MULE DEER MIGRATE TO THE EAST
BLACK TAILED DEER MIGRATE TO THE WEST
45 RAKER PEAK to the north is a 1,200-foot cone of andesite lava through which a stiff dome of dacite later welled up, the latter forming the cliffs. Logs felled by Lassen’s hot blast of May 22, 1915, are also visible on its lower slope. The mountain was named Raker Peak in 1933 to perpetuate the memory of John E. Raker, Representative from California and author of the successful bill making Lassen a National Park in 1916.
Across the road to the west, on the left base of the slope, is a small patch of mature trees. The mound, called “SURVIVORS HILL,” protected these trees from both the mudflow and the great Hot Blast. Survivors Hill also protected a patch of forest on Raker Peak where a patch of old trees still stands unscathed, surrounded by down timber.
(0.4 mile)
46 OLD BOUNDARY SPRING lies in the grove of white-trunked quaking aspen trees just southwest and below the level of the Road. The spring provides excellent drinking water. Through this site once passed the original park boundary, hence the name.
Quaking aspens are sun-tolerant trees, members of the poplar family. In autumn, their leaves turn a golden-yellow, sometimes tinged with red. It is a short-lived tree and is often a pioneer in areas denuded by fire or other means. It provides shelter and water-retention, assisting in the establishment of young coniferous trees which eventually crowd out the aspens.
(0.5 mile)