Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | Black Canyon Road - Mojave National Preserve |
| Tom Schweich |
Topics in this Article: Literature Cited | This file
describes Black Canyon Road from its north end at Cedar Canyon Road
to its south end at Essex Road.
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| Literature Cited: Other Articles: FAQ: Black Canyon Cedar Canyon Road: at Black Cyn Rd
Junction: Cedar Canyon Road, turn left (west) to descend into Kelso Valley and to Kelso-Cima Road, turn right (east) for Rock Springs and Lanfair Valley.
| |  Pinto Mountain across
Round Valley as seen from Black Canyon Road. Other Articles: Glossary: gneiss Eastern Mojave Geology: 300000 Locations: Round Valley. | Round ValleyPinto Mountain across Round Valley as seen from Black Canyon Road. The gray shrubs are Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and the large green shrubs are Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). Pinto Mountain is composed of Wild Horse Mesa Tuff, Winkler Formation, and Peach Springs Tuff. In the loose rock at the base of Pinto Mountain are boulders of gneiss and schist. That would indicate to me that the basement rock under Pinto Mountain is at or very near the surface. | Locations: Holliman Well.
Holliman Well | | Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: Road Log Junction: Wild
Horse Canyon Road.
| Take this road approximately 3 km southwest to the Mid Hills Campground. |
 Intersection
of Wild Horse Canyon and Black Canyon Roads after Hackberry Complex Fire.
Other Articles: Hackberry Complex Fire: … in Round Valley.
This panorama, taken June 27, 2005, after the Hackberry Complex Fire of June 22-25, 2005, shows that much of Round Valley burned as well as a good portion of Pinto Mountain.
| | Literature Cited: "The Narrows"
| |  Running water
in Black Canyon, looking north. Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050529110 Looking north in Black Canyon Road,
with running water, on May 29, 2005. |
|  Insect larvae in running water, Black Canyon, May 29, 2005
Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050529120
Insect larvae in running water, May 29, 2005. |
|  Running water in Black Canyon, looking south. Other Articles: Field Notes: 20050529110
Looking south in Black Canyon Road, with running water, on May 29, 2005.
| |
 Black Canyon
Road, looking north from near Gold Valley Ranch.
| Black CanyonView of Black Canyon Road, looking north from the vicinity of Gold Valley Ranch. The low gray shrubs are Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) and the large green shrubs are Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). This photograph was taken from a location about 50 meters north of the cows as seen in the photograph below. At first glance the vegetation might be classified as "pristine," as indeed much of the Mid Hills vegetation has been characterized. However, on closer examination there are many signs of usage by cattle, and it becomes impossible to know what the native vegetation might have been at this site. |  Cows along Black
Canyon Road. Locations: Gold Valley Ranch.
| Gold Valley RanchCows along Black Canyon Road. The original vegetation at this location would have been dominated by Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima) which can be seen in the background. However, heavy use by cattle, as they come to this location for water and salt, has completely destroyed the vegetation. |  Table
Top. Locations: Table Top.
| Table TopThe flat-topped mountain to the east of Black Canyon Road is Table Top. Geologic reports note that the Table Top is granite, topped by a quartz latite lava flow. The top surface is flat as it appears to be from the road. For most of its flat top, the vegetation consists of only two species, Basin Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) and Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma). |
Literature Cited:
Small moats in the soils around rocks as shown in this photograph are common on Table Top.
How the moats form is uncertain. However, it has been found that coarse particles will emerge from desert soils after as few as 4 wetting and drying cycles (Cook and Warren, 1973, p. 128). Once a rock like this emerges at the surface, continued rain runoff from the surface of the rock may wash the very fine particles away from the rock and cause a localized deflation around its edges.
| |  Blackbrush Scrub along
Black Canyon Road.
Blackbrush Scrub along Black Canyon Road. This view looks northwest toward Gold Valley Mine and the Little Thorn Mountains. The dark gray shrubs are Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima). This is one location in the Eastern Mojave where Blcakbrush reaches its maximum dominance. Relative density of Blackbrush is about 70% at this location.
| | Other Articles: Gold Valley Mine Road: at Black Canyon Road Junction: Gold
Valley Mine Road, northwest to Gold Valley Mine, and to Lobo Point Road.
| | Other Articles: Article: "casbrcimafenner" not found in tblArticles
At some point along Black Canyon Road, near Hole-in-the-Wall, Thompson's (1921) route between Cima and Fenner would coincide with the route of Black Canyon Road.
| |  Moonrise over
the Woods Mountains. Other Articles: Field Notes: 15-Oct-05 at Hole-in-the-Wall Locations: Woods Mountains.
Moonrise over the Woods Mountains, as seen from the Hole-in-the-Wall campground.
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| Hole-in-the-Wall
|  Two
camp sites in the campground at Hole in the Wall.
Locations: Hole-in-the-Wall.
Two camp sites in the campground at Hole-in-the-Wall. While Hole-in-the-Wall is a very pretty area, the camp sites are exposed to wind and sun, except in the late afternoon.
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 General view
of the campground at Hole in the Wall. Locations: Hole-in-the-Wall.
General view of the campground at Hole in the Wall. The slot canyon from which Hole in the Wall got its name is in the center. The peaks of the Providence Mountains can be seen in the distance.
| The U. S. G. S. is preparing a bulletin about Hole-in-the-Wall which can be found at: http://geology.wr.usgs.gov/docs/parks/misc/pdfdocs.html#moja |  Petroglyphs. Other Articles: Glossary: petroglyph Locations: Woods Mountains. Wendy
smiles embarrasedly knowing she's gotten into a picture while Matt copies down petroglyph designs at one of several petroglyph sites in the Woods Mountains.
| | Other Articles: Wild Horse Canyon Road: at Black Cyn Rd Junction: Wild
Horse Canyon Road, alternate to Black Canyon Road, a little more scenic, and rejoins Black Canyon Road north of Mid Hills Campground.
| |  Vegetation
near Hole-in-the-Wall.
General view of the vegetation approximately 1 km southeast of Hole-in-the-Wall. As you can see, this picture was taken in an unusually green Spring. The cactus in the foreground is Buckhorn Cholla (Opuntia acanthocarpa). The large tree-like plants are Mohave Yucca (Yucca schidigera). The smaller shrubs are boxthorns (Lycium sp.), Blackbrush (Coleogyne ramosissima), and Great Basin Blue Sage (Salvia dorrii).
| | Locations: Colton Hills.
Colton Hills, including Colton Well, to the northwest (left). |
| Other Articles: Essex Road: at Black Canyon Road Junction: Essex
Road, right (northwest) for Mitchell Caverns, left (southeast) for US I-40 and Essex.
| | | Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
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| Burn Area Emergency Response Team. 2005. Burned Area Emergency Stabilization Plan: Hackberry Complex. Primm, Nevada: National-Interagency Burned Area Emergency Response Team, July 5, 2005. Location records referred to by this literature:
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| [Null Author]. . County of San Bernardino vs. U. S. Department of Interior. {TAS-pdf} |
| Cook, Ronald U., and Andrew Warren. 1973. Geomorphology in Deserts. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.. If you have a
question or a comment you may write to me at: tas4@schweich.com I sometimes post
interesting questions in my FAQ, but I never disclose your full name or address.
| | Date and time this article was prepared: 5/8/2008 9:39:53 AM |
