View from the top of the Sierra Buttes (elev. 8,591') near Sierra City, California.  The peak has a dramatic east face with sharp dropoffs leading down to Upper & Lower Sardine Lakes below.  Here one can see Lassen Peak to the north leading down towards the distant Crystal Range to the south near Lake Tahoe.  The peak is quite easily accessible & sees a lot of visitors in any given day with the nearby trail/jeep trail being popular among mountain bikers.  The summit area had a fire lookout as early as around 1915 & this metal lookout & stair railing was constructed during the summer of 1964.  The area had its gold discovery in 1849 w/ eleven mines operating in this area by the late 1800s.  The Monumental Mine near the buttes produced the largest single nugget of gold at 106 pounds.  Not surprising, the summit rocks are also adorned with countless engraved signatures from the late 1800s, back when reaching the top was borderline technical.  On this visit, it was quite cold & windy up here w/ hoar frost that was just now melting away.  Fast moving fog was initially forming at the top however it had mostly cleared away at this point.