Eastern Mojave Vegetation Tom Schweich
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Eastern Mojave Vegetation | California Highway 168 |
| Tom Schweich |
Topics in this Article: Literature Cited | California Highway 168 runs
from U. S. Highway 395 at Big Pine, through Westgard Pass between the Inyo Mountains and the White Mountains, through Deep Springs Valley to Oasis on the California - Nevada border.
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| Other Articles: U. S. Highway 395: at CA Hwy 168 Locations: Big Pine. | Big PineJunction: US Highway 395, south to Lone Pine, Ridgecrest, and the wilderness of Los Angeles; or north to Bishop, Mammoth Lakes, Mono Lake, Reno, etc. | Literature Cited: Other Articles: Maps: 4 Apr 2009 Death Valley Road: Jct: CA Hwy 168 Junction: Death Valley Road.
Death Valley Road goes east through the Inyo Mountains to Eureka Valley, and the Last Chance Range, then south into Death Valley.
| Field Trip Stop 3-1 of the 2009 Desert Symposium (Reynolds and Jessey, 2009). The biostratigraphic sequence to the east along Hwy 168 near Westgard Pass contains some of the oldest rock units in western North America. These Precambrian and Cambrian rock units contain an abundant Lower to Middle Cambrian fauna, including Archeocyathids, trilobites, Scolithus (worm burrows) and Girvanella algal structures. The trilobite Fallotaspis in the shales of the Campito Formation marks the Cambrian-Precambrian boundary. These trilobites are older than those from the Carrara Shale at Emigrant Pass east of Shoshone and those in the Latham Shale of the southern Marble Mountains. Because of the abundance of fossil fauna and tectonic history of the region, the Westgard Pass vicinity is a favorite location for geology summer field camps.
|  Canyon ascending to Westgard Pass
Field trip stop in CA Hwy 168. |
|  Echinocereus engelmannii
Hedgehog Cactus (Echinocereus engelmannii) on terrace along side wash.
| |  Bug
in Echinocereus engelmannii
This flower was inhabited by a bug. |
| Other Articles: White Mountain Road: at CA Hwy 168 Locations: White Mountains. Junction: White
Mountain Road | | Locations: Westgard Pass. | Westgard Pass
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Locations: Mollie Gibson Canyon.
| Mollie Gibson Canyon |
 Geology field trip at an interesting outcrop.
The vans for a probable geology field trip parked across Highway 168.
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Locations: Deep Springs Valley.
| Deep Springs Valley
| Literature Cited: Locations: Deep Springs Dunes. Deep Springs Dunes
| | | Deep Springs College | Locations: Wyman Creek.
Deep Springs Highway Maintenance Station, cross Wyman Creek |
| Road
north to Wyman Canyon. | | Road
west to Wyman Canyon. | |  The
rare, and perhaps only, Creosote Bush in the White Mountains.
On a basalt
outcrop is found what may be the only Creosote Bush in the White Mountains.
| | Locations: Wyman Canyon.
View into "Wyman Canyon" from basalt outcrop near CA Highway 169. "Wyman Canyon" is a name commonly applied to the canyon containing Wyman Creek. However, it is not recognized by the GNIS.
| | Literature Cited: Southern
Desert Horned Lizard (Phrynosoma platyrhinos) seen at Gilbert Pass.
| | Locations: Gilbert Pass.
| Gilbert PassElevation: 6375 ft.The sign states this is "Gilbert Summit." However, the U. S. Board of Geographic Names has designated this as Gilbert Pass. | Inyo
County above … | Mono County below …
| Other Articles: CA Hwy 266: 25000 | Oasis | Other Articles: Nevada Highway 266: at California Hwy 168 Junction: Nevada Highway
266, east past Magruder Mountain and Lida to Lida Junction at U. S. Highway 95.
| | | Literature CitedA list of all literature cited by this web site can be found in the Bibliography.
| | Manaster, Jane. 1997. Horned Lizards. Number Thirty-Four, The Corrie Herring Hooks Series. Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press, 1997. {TAS}
| | Pavlik, Bruce Michael. 1985. Sand dune flora of the Great Basin and Mojave deserts of California, Nevada, and Oregon. Madroño. 32(4):197-213. {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
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| Reynolds, Robert E., and David R. Jessey. 2009. Landscape Evolution at an Active Plate Margin. The 2009 Desert Symposium Field Guide and Proceedings. Fullerton and Riverside, Ca: Desert Studies Consortium, California State University and LSA Associates, Inc., April 2009. {TAS} Location records referred to by this literature:
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: 3/14/2010 3:18:33 PM |
