1. Wear low heeled, sturdy shoes. 2. Hike at a moderate pace, taking short, frequent rests and enjoy the ever-changing view. 3. Take a lunch along. 4. You can eat snow for water, but do so slowly, otherwise it may make you ill. 5. Dark glasses, sunburn lotion, and a hat are advisable. 6. Do not start later than 2 hours before sunset, or when storms or fog threaten. 7. DO NOT TAKE SHORT-CUTS ACROSS THE TRAIL. It is against Park Regulations and is inadvisable because: a. It is dangerous: sprained or broken ankles and arms may result. b. Unavoidable dislodging of rocks is dangerous to hikers below. c. It costs money to rebuild the trail which short-cutting ruins. On the rise to the left of the trail, the parallel markings in the rock is known as flow banding and takes place when the lava is still moving but cooling rapidly. Directly above this banding, on top of the rock formation, is glacial polish, which indicates that the lava cooled long before the Ice Age. In climbing the Peak, the trail leaves the Hudsonian Life Zone with mountain hemlocks and white-bark pine, and at timber line it enters the Arctic-Alpine Life Zone. From near the register box atop Lassen Peak, Mt. Shasta is to the northwest, 75 miles away, looming up 14,161 feet. To the north, are Chaos Crags, the Devastated Area, Prospect Peak, Cinder Cone, and Butte Lake. Mt. Harkness, Warner Valley, and the mountains of Nevada are to the east, with Dyer Peak and Lake Almanor in the distance and Kings Creek Meadow nearby. To the southeast are the High Sierra including Pyramid Peak in the vicinity of Lake Tahoe. To the west is the rough black dacite lava of 1915 which filled and obliterated Lassen’s 1914 Crater. This lava also spilled through the northeast notch, causing the Great Mudflow of May 19, 1915. Just beyond the 1915 lava is the 1915-1916 crater formed by the great explosive eruption of May 22, 1915. It now contains a tiny lake, sapphire blue when not frozen over. The notch on Lassen’s western skyline, just beyond, is the 1917 crater. There are active steam vents in the west and north portions of this basin, but the steam does not always condense well enough to be seen easily. There are yellow deposits of sulphur on the north wall of 1915-1916 crater. On the west side of the crater basin, the 1915-1916 and the 1917 craters can be seen, and also the Brokeoff-Lassen Ridge to the south, glaciated Blue Lake Canyon to the southwest, Loomis Peak and the Sacramento Valley to the west, with the Coast Range Mountains beyond. The highest Coast Ranges to the northwest are the Trinity Alps. Nearby is Manzanita Lake area with Chaos Jumbles and Chaos Crags to the right (north).