38 DRIVE SLOWLY: TRAIL CROSSING FOR HORSES. The side road on the east leads to the public horse corral. Reservations for riding and pack horses may be made during the summer season here or at the Manzanita Lake Lodge. The trail on the west goes to Cliff Lake (2.3 miles), Shadow Lake (3.2 miles), Terrace Lake (3.5 miles) and on to the base of Lassen Peak. (1.2 miles) 39 DERSCH MEADOWS is a two mile long series of meadows extending northwest from Summit Lake along the park road. It is drained by the East Fork of Hat Creek and Dersch Creek. A large variety of fine spring and summer wildflowers including alpine shooting stars, columbia monkshood and rare white orchids, milkwhite habenaria, can be found close to the road. Deer are abundant here during the summer and fall seasons. [Illustration: COLUMBIA MONKSHOOD (blue, rarely white)] [Illustration: MILKWHITE HABENARIA (white)] [Illustration: ALPINE SHOOTING STAR (strong pink)] This is CANADIAN LIFE ZONE country. In addition to red fir, the 2-needle lodgepole pine, and western white pine are abundant. The shrub-like trees in the meadows are the moisture-loving willows. The rust-brown branches on the red fir have been caused by a small mistletoe which, like most mistletoes, cripples but rarely kills the trees. (0.3 mile) 40 A large ANT HILL at the base of a small lodgepole pine about 15 feet from the road on the uphill side is about a 3-foot high nest built of twigs and dry pine needles by red ants about ¼ inch long. These ants have a very well developed social system comparable to that of bees. PLEASE DO NOT POKE OR OTHERWISE DISTURB THE ANTHILL. (0.7 mile) 41 On the north (outside) edge of the park road is a truck trail which follows HAT CREEK north, and then eastward to a locked gate at Badger Flat, 6 miles distant. From Badger Flat, trails lead to Cinder Cone (5 miles), Butte Lake (7 miles), Cluster Lakes (2 miles), and many other points. This is the southeast boundary of the DEVASTATED AREA. The down logs all point away from Lassen Peak, which dominates the scene and which wrought the devastation. Some trees have been uprooted; others have been snapped off like match sticks. (0.2 mile) 42 HAT LAKE PARKING AREA. Nearby is Hat Lake, elevation 6,450 feet. It was formed by the mudflow of May 19, 1915, when it blocked Hat Creek. All lakes are very temporary features, and this one is a good example, as it is rapidly being filled by the building of a delta at the south end of the lake and by the accumulation of organic debris such as logs, etc. This will become a meadow in the near future. Most meadows have been formed in a similar manner. A cream-colored aquatic buttercup blooms conspicuously on the lake in the summer and early fall.