238 Adventures in Scenery 



streams was accelerated, and as the movement upward contin- 

 ued fanglomerate deposits were laid down in basins and at the 

 mouths of streams. The whole region was reduced to a surface 

 of low relief, and basalt flowed out over the level surface. 



Finally, in Quaternary time the country was subjected to 

 earth stresses to which the rocks yielded by faulting, and a great 

 block began to rise which ultimately became the San Bernar- 

 dino Mountains. The San Bernardino Mountain range owes 

 its existence as such to a great system of Quaternary faults. 

 The mountain range has been raised between faults on the north 

 and south sides. The range is being eroded rapidly by deep- 

 cutting canyons and gorges. The region has been made 

 "young" by reason of being uplifted. Such a mountain- 

 building upheaval is generally accompanied by faulting. The 

 general uplift of the region, and the faulting as well, which has 

 given rise to the mountains, is recent, and indeed may be still 

 going on. 



The San Jacinto Mountains a Stupendous 

 Range 



The San Jacinto Mountains constitute one of the most 

 stupendous mountain ranges in Southern California. The 

 dominating feature of the range is San Jacinto Peak, 10,805 feet 

 above sea level. The peak is an outstanding monument that 

 compels the attention of the passer-by by its towering majesty. 

 Seven miles to the east is far-famed Palm Springs, 500 feet 

 above sea level, and a little beyond is the Salton Sea, the surface 

 of which is 280 feet below sea level. While the observer will 

 probably not look away over the landscape from the top, he may 

 gaze upward from a wide radius and imagine himself looking 

 over the Colorado Desert; off to the southwest to the Santa Ana 

 Mountains; northwest to and beyond Riverside 25 miles away; 

 and north to the great heights of the San Bernardino Mountains 

 beyond the San Gorgonio Pass. 



The peaks and higher slopes are rugged in the extreme. On 



