Volcano

 1/24- Chico CA

   We went for a hike today in the Bidwell Park area known as the Monkey Face. Supposedly if you look up at the rock formation at the top of the ridge it looks like a monkey’s face. To be honest I’m very skeptical and I wonder what was in that pipe.

   Anyway while walking around on the ridge top you can see plenty of volcanic evidence. This whole Sierra Nevada range is all part of the Pacific Rim of Fire. Volcanoes abound here though none are particularly active. Mt St Helens did blow its top about 40 years ago and volcanoes are frequently erupting up in Alaska. The ground here is mostly this hard aggregate that was formed by mud mixing with rocks and drying. Today we saw plenty of hard rock that was once flowing like water. 

    The fields are littered with rocks ejected from the volcano. I always thought New England fields were rock filled but they have nothing on these pastures. In some you are barely able to take more than two steps between basketball sized rocks. How the cows don’t stumble over them is beyond me. 

   We did also stroll through a place called the Tree Farm. This is a research facility that breeds trees such as Ponderosa Pines  and Douglas Firs. They also had a collection of odder trees from all over the world. It wasn’t quite that impressive as it being winter none had leaves. We did however get to walk through a mini bamboo forest. It was a very interesting place.