Eastern Sierra Nevada and The Great Basin: Another Must Read

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Another Must Read

John Muir Laws, "Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada" is a brilliant book, easy to use and wonderful to have in the field. In fact, today I took the book to work and folks fell in love with it. One guy even asked me to pick up a copy for him next time I'm over on 395. They are available in almost every store, ranger stations, and visitor centers throughout the area. The funny thing is, Mr. Laws isn't related to the famous naturalist, his parents simply named him John Muir. (Cover photo from author's website)

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Welcome to all!!

I hope you find some useful information here about this beautiful, rugged and historic part of the world, the Sierra Nevada and Great Basin where I am lucky to be stationed. I have fallen in love with this land where I spend a lot of time exploring, as I have done for the past 25 years or so. I have now started to post photos and descriptions here, mostly of my own writing and shooting. Sometimes I post interesting tidbits that I come across that are relative to our favorite subjects. As this site grows, please consider donating or by buying one of the books chosen by me that are listed below or by visiting the advertisers to help fund these field trips, so I can pass them along to you, as best I can. If you have any questions, comments, complaints or suggestions, please leave a comment and I will reply. May your explorations and discoveries be many and memorable!!

Trying to define the undefineable!!!!

The Sierra Nevada (Spanish: [ˈsjera neˈβaða], snowy mountain range is a mountain range in the U.S. states of California and Nevada, between the California Central Valley and the Basin and Range Province. The Sierra run 400 miles (640 km) north-to-south, and are approximately 70 miles (110 km) across east-to-west. Notable Sierra features include Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America; Mount Whitney at 14,505 feet (4,421 m),[2] the highest point in the contiguous United States; and Yosemite Valley sculpted by glaciers out of 100-million-year-old granite. The Sierra is home to three parks, 20 wilderness areas, and a national monument. These areas include Yosemite and Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks.

The Great Basin is the largest area of contiguous endorheic watersheds of North America and is noted for its arid conditions and Basin and Range topography that varies from the North American lowpoint at Badwater Basin to—less than 100 miles away—the contiguous United States highpoint at the Mount Whitney summit. The watershed spans several physiographic divisions, biomes/ecoregions, deserts, and metropolitan areas and, in addition to being the ancestral homeland of the Great Basin tribes, was the 1849 location of the provisional State of Deseret.