Volume IIA the Sierra Nevada Loop (A Science, Nature and Technology Guide to the American Southwest)
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Volume IIA The Sierra Nevada Loop (A Science, Nature and Technology Guide to the American Southwest) First Edition Copyright © 2019 by Raymond Kirk Cover and internal design © Raymond Kirk All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its author and publisher, Raymond Kirk. All brand names and product names used in this book are trademarks, registered trademarks, or trade names of their respective holders. We are not associated with any product or vendor in this book. Most of the photographic images used in this book are used under the terms of Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike licenses CC0, CC BY 1.0, CC BY SA-2.0, CC BY-SA 2.5, CC BY-SA 3.0, CC BY- SA 4.0 and the GNU Free 1.2. Most, if not all of these images have been re-sized to be compatible with the Kindle e-book display limitation of 800 by 600 pixels. And, in compliance with the terms of these licenses, these images are not subject to any claims of copyright of the contents of this book. The “Photo By” in the caption of each picture is hyper-linked to the source of the photo with details about the copyright, and in many cases, information about the brand of camera, its settings, etc. I have been careful to avoid copyright infringement, but if anyone reading this book is aware of an infringement, please notify the author at [email protected] and the infringing material will be removed or a citation will be added, whichever is appropriate. Table of Contents How To Use This Book.......................................................................... Introduction............................................................................................ The Sierra Nevada Loop....................................................................... 1st Leg – L. A. To Mammoth Lakes.................................................. Vasquez Rocks Nature Park Lamont Odette Vista Point Overlook Los Angeles Aqueduct Mojave Desert Devil's Punchbowl California Poppy Reserve Ripley Desert Woodland S. P. Cat House Edwards Air Force Base Silver Queen Mine Mojave Alta Wind Farm Tehachapi Loop 20 Mule Team Borax Mine Red Rock Canyon S. P. Owens Valley Highway 178 Junction Walker Pass Lake Isabella China Lake Museum Maturango Museum Trona Pinnacles Highway 395 Olancha Fossil Falls Red Hill Cinder Cone Lone Pine Lone Pine Film History Museum Mount Whitney Alabama Hills Independence Onion Valley Big Pine Owens Valley Radio Observatory Bristlecone Pine N. M. Bishop Lake Sabrina Sherwin Grade Geological Feature Rock Creek Mcgee Creek Long Valley Caldera Crowley Lake Whitmore Pool Benton Hot Springs Hot Creek Fish Hatchery Hot Creek Gorge Convict Lake Casa Diablo Geothermal Plant Mammoth Lakes Area....................................................................... Mammoth Visitor Center Mammoth Mountain Lake Mary Lake Mamie Lake George Horseshoe Lake Twin Lakes Earthquake Fault Minaret Summit Red's Meadow Devil's Postpile N. M. Rainbow Falls Lookout Mountain Inyo Craters Panum Crater June Lake Loop Glass Creek Dome Obsidian Dome Mono Craters Mono Lake Tufas S. P. Mono Basin Visitor's Center 2nd Leg – Mammoth Lakes to Yosemite........................................... Tioga Pass Tuolumne Meadows Tenaya Lake Lembert Dome Olmsted Point High Sierra Camp Loop Tuolumne Grove Merced Grove Yosemite N. P. Ahwahnee Hotel Glacier Point Nevada/Vernal Falls Yosemite Falls Bridal Veil Falls El Capitan Monolith Hetch Hetchy Valley 3rd Leg – Yosemite to L. A............................................................... Mariposa Grove Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad Nelder Grove Coarsegold Bass Lake Sierra Vista Scenic Byway Sierra Heritage Scenic Byway Sequoia N. P. King's Canyon N. P. California State Mining and Mineral Museum Kern River The Grapevine Castaic Lake Magic Mountain And Finally... Acknowledgments.................................................................................. Appendix 1 – Recommended Reading................................................... Appendix 2 – Useful Web Sites............................................................. Appendix 3 - Helpful hints..................................................................... Appendix 4 - About The Set................................................................... Volume I – The Cities........................................................................ Volume II – The Road Trips.............................................................. Volume III – The Field Guide........................................................... About The Author.................................................................................. How To Use This Book The following image illustrates the various hyperlinks that are available to the reader and what each of them does. In order to best utilize the hyperlinks contained herein, you must have access to the Internet from the device that you are using to read this book. With map links in particular, you may want to save maps to your device so that they will be available when you do not have Internet access. Most modern smartphones and even many of the newer cars have the ability to serve as “Wi-Fi hotspots”. This feature allows you to connect your laptop, tablet or other device to the Internet via your smartphone's telephone network. Thus, as long as you have a decent cellular service signal on your phone, you can use it to access the Internet from your other devices. This would allow you to use the hyperlinks in this e-book from any location that has a decent cellular signal. You would no longer have to search for a Wi-Fi enabled cafe, motel, etc., although many of those places offer free Wi-Fi these days. Additional helpful tips can be found here. Introduction The sites listed in this e-book are in the order that the reader would encounter them on the tour. It is felt that this arrangement is the best way to organize the information so that it is presented in a reader friendly format. Welcome to the new era of publishing. This book is on the vanguard of a new generation of means for the dissemination of information. It has been designed exclusively from the beginning to be used on computers, tablets, smart phones and e-readers. Because it is published in electronic form, it is not limited in size or scope, and incorporates features such as hyperlinks unavailable in printed matter. If you find inaccurate information or dead hyperlinks, please notify us at [email protected]. If you know of new sites that you think should be added, please feel free to notify us at [email protected]. The Sierra Nevada Loop Additional Information Additional photos This tour is a wonderful expedition that explores a number of geological features, most of which are gray and white granite and not the red sandstone prevalent throughout most of the southwest. These include: Red sandstone (at Red Rock Canyon,) a tilted plateau, an ancient ocean floor, sheer 10,000-foot granite walls, alluvial fans, lateral and terminal moraines, glacially carved lakes, a volcanic caldera, hot springs with bubbling mud pots, a dormant volcano, an earthquake fault, explosion pits, cinder cones, lava flows, tufas, obsidian domes, columnar basalt formations and some stuff I forgot. A real-life geology class. And you will visit some of the best trout fishing locations in America along the way. The loop is divided into three main parts. The first part covers the southern Sierras from Los Angeles to Lee Vining on the shore of Mono Lake, a distance of approximately 300 miles. The second part goes from Lee Vining through Tuolumne Meadows to Yosemite Valley, a distance of approximately 100 miles. The third part goes from Yosemite Valley down the western slopes of the Sierras back to Los Angeles, a distance of approximately 300 miles. It is recommended that you budget at least a week for each leg, if possible. Total distance (not counting all the site visits) is about 700 miles, but visiting the sites will, of course, add significantly to this figure. Spring and fall are the best times to go, and you should monitor road conditions to make sure that the passes will be open during your visit. Lots of facilities and accommodations are along the way, and rarely more that 30 or 40 miles away. Keep in mind that reservations are recommended (and in many cases, required) during the summer months for hotels, motels and campgrounds. Wilderness permits are required for most hikes and some of these are limited to a certain number of hikers per day. Plan ahead! And, this road trip is not recommended during the winter due to hazardous driving conditions and road closures. 1st Leg – L. A. To Mammoth Lakes Starting out on Interstate Highway 5 in the San Fernando Valley (north of Los Angeles), we proceed north to Highway 14 east. We follow this road into the Mojave Desert where we connect with Highway 395 north of Mojave. We then follow this road north along the eastern scarp of the Sierra Nevada, to State Road 203 about 40 miles north of Bishop. Take this road west a few miles into the town of Mammoth Lakes. If you take no stops and observe speed limits, this trip can be done in about 5 hours (with good traffic.) Avoid Friday afternoons/evenings, if possible. Of course, you can spend a couple of weeks getting to Mammoth if you stop at all the locations