Sardine Creek near CA 108, Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, Mono County, CA, 10/15/2007
While exploring Sonora Pass in California's High Sierra, I noticed this group of intensely colorful aspens (Populus tremuloides) a short distance from Sonora Pass Highway. Populus tremuloides is a deciduous tree native to cooler areas of North America. The species is referred to as Quaking Aspen and Trembling Aspen because of its leaves that flutter in even a slight breeze. When I walked over to have a closer look I was delighted to find that the trees are next to a tiny waterfall on Sardine Creek. Here the creek travels through pink granite and predominantly Sierra juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) forest. At an elevation of 9,624 feet Sonora Pass, which is traversed by CA 108 is the second-highest highway pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountain Range of California. This pass connects the communities of Sonora to the west and Bridgeport to the east. The highway over the pass is very steep, with as much as a 26% grade in some places. The first immigrant crossing of Sonora Pass appears to have been by a wagon train known as the Clark-Skidmore Company in late summer of 1852. Subsequently, merchant interests in the communities of Sonora and Columbia promoted the route to California-bound immigrants, not always with happy results when they discovered how difficult the route was. I found this scene a short distance east of the pass in the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
