MOVING EASTWARD ALONG CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY 190 FROM STOP 2 TO STOP 3: ROCKS WITH COLOR AND CHARACTER
Highway 190 (CA 190) has much colorful scenery, and not being the driver (thanks to my friend and coworker Bimal) allowed me to snap photos to my heart's content as we drove past this fantasy-land scenery:
Highway 190 divides the Black Range from the Funeral Range. The Funerals are limestones from an ancient ocean, and over 300-million years old. The Blacks are volcanic rocks that came up from anywhere between four to twelve million years ago. Pretty recent stuff. The shales, sandstones and clays that lie at the foot of the Blacks are eroded and transformed from these more recent rocks. In the distance in the next photo lies Wildrose Peak, the higher point on the Panamints north of Telescope Peak, with just a sliver of snow remaining.
At the lower reaches of CA 190, uphill from Furnace Creek, we are looking at Black Range mountains that grade into the Greenwater Range as we go up. To the south a valley called the Greenwater Valley separates the two ranges, but along this highway they form one range. In the distance we see Telescope Peak now, and some of its neighboring highlands still covered with snow.
Moving further up on Highway 190, Telescope Peak is beginning to be reduced by the rising Black Mountains.
Believe it or not, that little white triangle in the next photo is our last glimpse of Telescope Peak as we rise out of the valley.
By this time along CA 190 I am sure we have passed from the Blacks to the Greenwaters, both dominated by intrusive rocks, and extrusive volcanic rocks.
The colorful views just don't let up:
Lack of water and heat are not all that is discouraging plant life here. The degraded volcanics become clays and shales that erode easily and offer nothing for plants in the way of a texture that can absorb and release water or nutrients.
Can you tell I am simply enjoying this ride through time, through these old, yet young, rocks?
But, as we rise out of the valley on Highway 190, we finally get to an area where the rock being eroded does form a sort of soil that supports plant life, and as we reach the pass into Amargosa Valley, there is quite a bit of vegetation, considering where we are. We will see that on the next page.
Go to the page that shows more of the road from Stop 2 to Stop 3 (California 190)
Go to Stop 3: Inyo County well #1
Go to Stop 4: the Hectorite Mine uphill from Stop 3
Go back to Nevares Springs, Stop # 1
Go back to road from Stop 1 to Stop 2
Go back to Stop 2: National Park Service Travertine Wells
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