826 



University of California. 



[Vol. 3. 



remnants of the sheet, but it rises but very slightly, or not at 

 all, above the general level established by the lava surface. The 

 width of the plateau is here about three miles. It terminates 

 abruptly at the brink of a canon 2,000 feet, or more, deep. 

 Standing on this brink one may look across the canon and see 

 remnants of the plateau on the far side and of the volcanic rocks 

 which rest upon it, these being in sharp contrast with the pre- 

 vailing granite of the country. Restoring the portion removed 

 by the cutting of the canon, the entire width of the plateau is 

 probably not less than five miles. In its relation to the canon 

 the plateau is a terrace, representing clearly an ancient valley 

 floor evolved at a time when the base level of the region was 

 relatively much higher than it is now; or, as it might be better 

 stated, when the surface of the plateau was coincident with the 

 base level. The Hockett trail from Trout Meadows to Farewell 

 Gap follows this terrace on the west side of the Little Kern 

 nearly to Shot Gun Creek, where it is eventually lost in the 

 narrower canon of the head waters of the river. This terrace is 

 well defined and affords an easy and comparatively level trail, 

 save where it is dissected by the transverse streams tributary to 

 the Little Kern, which come down from the western slopes of 

 the Great Western Divide. The width of the more level part of 

 the terrace is about a mile to a mile and a half. At its rear it- 

 passes by transitional slopes into the rather steep mountain side 

 of the Great Western Divide. Its most level pai't is that to the 

 east of Burnt Coral Meadow, where it is veneered with a thin sheet 

 of basaltic lava, which covers an area possibly half a mile 

 square. It has here the same perfectly level character as that 

 which prevails to the south of Trout Meadows. The exigencies 

 of mountain travel and the prevalence of timber prevented a 

 more comprehensive view of this terrace. Enough has been 

 observed, however, to make it clear that we have here to deal 

 with the remnant of a high valley entirely analogous in its gen- 

 eral features to the Chagoopa Plateau and dissected in the same 

 way. The fact that it lies at a lower level may be explained 

 partly on the supposition that it is farther down stream in the 

 ancient drainage system, but chiefly on the supposition that, 

 toward the bead of the Kern, the mountains have been lifted 



