Lawson.] 



The Upper Kern Basin. 



309 



seen from the top of Mt. Guyot looking' south and southeast. 

 ( Plate 32 b) . A. move distant view of it is obtained from the sum- 

 mit of Mt. Whitney looking southwest. ( Plate 33 A ) . From both 

 view points it is seen to be a remarkably even and level surface 

 partially dissected by glacial erosion. On its western border, 

 immediately south of Guyot, a sharp but not high ridge rises 

 above its general level, and similar higher ground bounds it on 

 the southwest, so that it presents the appearance of an old, 

 broad, level-bottomed valley lying between this ridge on the west 

 and southwest and the slopes of the Summit Upland on the east. 

 This Sub-summit Plateau extends south as far as Toowa Valley, 

 but in this direction it is much dissected by widely flaring, 

 V-shaped caiions of stream erosion. Glimpses of its flat top are 

 obtained from the summit of the volcanic cone which sits on the 

 divide between Volcano Creek and the South Fork of the Kern. 

 Within these general limits the area of Sub-summit Plateau 

 including its dissection is about 50 square miles. Its general 

 altitude is about 11,500 feet. 



Other Plateau Remnants. — No other remnants of plateau sur- 

 faces which could be definitely correlated with this Sub-summit 

 Plateau were observed within the basin of the Upper Kern. But 

 on the Great Western Divide and in the region to the west of the 

 Upper Kern Basin, there are remnants of flat topped summits 

 some of which are the undoubted correlatives of the Summit 

 Upland, while others might with equal reason be correlated with 

 the Sub-summit Plateau. The best instance of the Summit Upland 

 on the west side of the basin is that afforded by Table Mountain 

 (13,625 feet). This is clearly the remnant of a plateau which 

 has been, and is being, reduced in area by the encroachment 

 upon it of the steep cliffs which encircle the mountain. Other 

 high peaks to the south of Table Mountain show similar but less 

 pronounced flat tops. These resemble the summit of Mt. Whitney 

 in character, except that the summit of Table Mountain is even 

 more level. Their high altitude seems a fair warrant for regard- 

 ing them as correlatives of the Summit Upland. 



Beyond the limits of the Upper Kern Basin the most notable 

 flat topped summit is a high plateau which lies to the west of 

 Farewell Gap and Mt. Vandever, between the East Fork of the 



