THK GOLDEN TKOITT. 11 



levt'l meadows, where the watei- Hows gently, this ])(>rtioii of tlie stream is made up 

 of a succession of i-apids and small cascades, none, liowcner, constituting- a barrier 

 to the ascent of fishes. The total fall from the headwaters to the point where the 

 stream turns west is between l,t)00 and '2,000 feet. 



The bend to the westward is made just after the stream enters an east-and-west 

 ancient trough or valley which Professor Lawson calls "'Toowa Valley," just below 

 the most eastern of the series of small volcanoes or cinder cones which give name to 

 the creek, and at a place known as the " tunnel." The elevation of the creelv bed at 

 this point is about 8,600 feet. The floor of Kern Canyon at the mouth of Volcano 

 Creek is 6,300 feet. The drop made by this portion of the creek is therefore about 

 2,300 feet. (PI. x, fig. 28). 



As already stated, the descent made by the creek above the " tunnel" is without 

 an}' considerable sheer falls. That portion below the " tunnel " is markedly different. 

 Rapids, cascades, and sheer falls of large proportions and exceeding beauty follow 

 each other in rapid succession, particularly in the last three or four miles. Only in 

 (xroundhog Meadow and one or two other small meadows are any quiet reaches 

 found. While there are many rapids and small cascades all along below the tunnel, 

 k is only in the last three or four miles that falls of considerable size are found. A 

 good general view of this portion of the creek is seen in plate viii, figure 21. 



Volcano Creek above the tunnel has a bed of granite sand and gravel with 

 granite boulders of various sizes from small to very large and in great profusion. 

 From the tunnel to the mouth thei-e is not so much granite, but nuicli lava, volcanic 

 tufa, and tufaceous sand. 



Though the stream foi' most of its course is turbulent and wild, there are 

 three meadows of considerable size through which it flows more quietly. Here the 

 l)anks are of sod or well covered by willows and other shrubs; the bed is of gi'avel 

 of various sizes, fragments of lava, and finer material from the granite, lava, and 

 soil. Below these meadows is the series of rapids and important falls already 

 mentioned and which are more fully described on page 14. 



To understand Volcano Creek it is necessary to consider it in connection with 

 another stream, the South Fork of the Kern. The relations of these two streams are 

 peculiar and unusual. According to Professor Lawson, the South Fork of the 

 Kern has its rise in the Summit Divide, about 3 miles southeast of Cirque Peak, 

 flows southwest a))out 6 miles, and enters Toowa Valley practicality at the same 

 point where Volcano Creek enters it. There it niak(\s an acute bend to the 

 eastward and flows southeasterly through the eastern part of Toowa Valley. (PI. 

 XI, tigs. 30 and 31.) At the point of nearest approach Volcano Creek and Soutii 

 Fork of Kern are separated by a low alluvial ridge not over 75 or 80 yards wide at 

 the level of the beds of the streams. The top of the ridge at the narrowest point is 

 about 50 or 60 feet wide and not to exceed 30 feet above the streams. It is evident 

 that these two streams were at one time tributaries of one stream wliich, according 

 to Professor Lawsun, Dcciipicd flu' Toowu Valle}', and the separation of the drainage 

 into two distinct streams, (nir How in<j wc^t and the other east in the same valley, is 

 :in interesting prol)l(Mn wliidi has lis hearing upon the geomorphy of the region and, 

 as well, upon the origin and relationships of the trout of the two streams. 



