Weather: 75F, sunny

Lassen Peak was daunting to look at when you first start because of the thick snow that welcomes you at the start of the trail. We used crampons and trekking poles to get through the first 0.75 mile which was all snow/slush when we went. Most of the trail after that part was just your regular trail of dirt/sand/rocks. Towards the end of the hike, there was a snow/slush area on a steep slope which we had to cross… some people were able to cross it just wearing regular hiking shoes, some used crampons, some decided it was too risky, some thought it was easy… all I know is that every single member of my group was able to go through it without a problem (age range of our group is late 20s to mid 60s). The final tough area of the peak are the loose rock trail at the very end, we just made sure we took our time to go through that area.

The trail is well-kept and marked which made it moderately easy to get through; however, the altitude and the snow was what made it tough. In addition, it was pretty fun seeing skiers and snowboarders hike up the mountain and make their way down.

Recommendations for the hike:

• 3L+ water (increased dehydration risk for high altitudes)
• sunscreen (reapply often, I was burnt even though I reapplied 4x throughout the hike)
• sunglasses + hat
• Lip moisturizer
• Healthy snack
• crampons
• hiking/trekking poles
• Waterproof hiking boots (not shoes)