I imagine that many people miss that the Sierra Nevada continues for many miles south of Sequioa National Park, but it is a fascinating region containing a national monument, four wilderness areas, a state demonstration forest, and a county park preserving a sequoia grove. I spent some of the finest weeks of my boyhood in this region, at a scout camp (Circle B Scout Ranch; now disbanded and sold off), and on a fifty mile week-long hike through the Little Kern River Valley and Maggie Mountain. But my boy scout days were a very long time ago, and I have not managed to get back to the region since.
The road doesn't exactly go anywhere. It's mostly there to provide access to a number of ranches, but along the way there are some gorgeous vistas, and springtime provided us with some beautiful flower displays. At our first stop, a Red-tailed Hawk watched us carefully...
The road crosses a divide at 2,700 feet, and a look east gave us a tantalizing view of some of the high country. The high peaks include Dennison and Moses Mountains, and hidden in the folds below the peaks are Balch Park (Tulare County), and Mountain Home State Demonstration Forest. The rest of the mountains are preserved as Giant Sequoia National Monument, established by President Clinton in 2000. Nearly half of the remaining groves of the Giant Sequoia trees were preserved by the designation.
In a few scattered spots, the golden poppies dominated. It won't be but a few weeks before the flowers are gone, and the dry heat of the summer settles in.
At the bottom of the long hill I was surprised to see some mima mounds! These enigmatic low hummocks (sometimes also called "hogwallow" mounds) are found in widely scattered locations along the eastern Central Valley and western Sierra Nevada foothills. They were once thought to be burial mounds, but there is no evidence of this. Other hypotheses include preferential tunneling by gophers and ground squirrels, ancient stabilized sand dunes, heaving effects dating from the ice ages, and wave effects from earthquake activity. And aliens, of course.
I don't know which hypothesis fits best with the phenomenon, but rodents make the most sense to me. But that isn't nearly as fun as weird earthquake wave-forms.
The Other California is my long on-again, off-again series exploring the fascinating geological localities that don't often appear on the tourist's postcards.
Postscript: Of course, such a beautiful place would have to be slated for development: http://www.saveyokohlvalley.org/ . I hope that since the site hasn't been updated for a few years, and there were no resorts in Yokohl Valley that I could see, maybe it has been tabled or cancelled...
Spent a lot of time in the area. Any chance you remember the restaurant and bar at Camp Wishon?
ReplyDeleteWe have mima mounds too (Laramie Basin) -- I've come to think "mima" means inexplicable :)
ReplyDeleteWow, if I ever saw the Camp Wishon bar/restaurant, it would have been decades ago. I'll have to check it out if I make it down that way this summer as I hope to.
ReplyDeleteIt's been gone a long time now.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I rode that on my Honda Transalp a wild turkey hen ran in front of me for about 40 yards then flew off from a high spot at a left hand turn in the road. What a beautiful sight!
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