Lang's Crossing Geology Lesson

Our group of 7 headed off up the trail from the Yuba under iffy skies in fairly cool weather.  The river was running wildly white over trees and rocks below us.  The wildflowers were a delightful mix of what we had seen plus some high altitude penstemon, pink pussy paws, and a deep red paintbrush.  Mariposa Lily, Monkey Flowers, and Fairy Lanterns also grew among the rocks.  Perhaps the most spectacular was the deep red of the Canyon Dudleya clumps in the rock crevices.  The trail wends it's way along the south face on the way to Fuller Lake with views of the river and mountains.  We were thankful for the cool weather as it could be a hot hike.  About 2 miles up, the trail came to a usually small creek that was too wild to cross.  We returned to Lang's under threatenbing skies, taking a small detour to see a lovely area Clarence knew about.

The group decided to take another hike, further up the road down an overgrown powerline trail that would afford some more views of the wild Yuba.  We put on our raincoats, expecting it at any time to chance sitting on a rocky overlook down the trail.  As we commenced to eat lunch, the sky cleared, we took off our extra clothing, and basked in warm sunlight as we watched Signal Peak and the Monument Range emerge snow-covered from their clouds while the Yuba raged below. 

Dave led this part of the hike continuing on his geology talk he had started on the previous section.  We had seen some unusual rocks and were to see a lot more.  Since he should write this part I will leave it to him to teach you but needless to say, we saw a lot of beautiful and different rocks formed 4 hundred million years ago.  They were folded and extruded and generally colored lovely reds and pinks if they contained iron oxide, often embedded with various types of crystals.  He lead us up some steep rocks, as we continued west over talus and boulders to a view pretty much directly across from our Plantation hike views.  The river below had formed an island and the falls above it was not visible except for the spray.  Below the island was called "Lower Emerald Pool" but was a white foamy mass like the rest.

Which leads me to this warning:  Do not take your dogs near the Yuba or it's feeding creeks!!  
Sadly, Akiko lost her beloved Puka in Humbug Creek a couple of weeks ago.  Puka was happily swimming around as Goldens do when the current got ahold of her and she became helpless.  They have yet to find her.

Next week will be a continuation of exploring how high we can get, going up to Carr/Feely(?) and hiking around to Loney Meadow.  So far, no snow.  I wish we could be there but it looks doubtful - anyone for hiking Thursday? 

Pictures  by Clarence and Elly.