The clearest way
into the universe
is through
a forest wilderness.
...John Muir
This was taken the day we spent in the Sierra Nevada Mountains with our oldest grandson. We had a nice day that will make lovely memories for us.
The Sierra Nevada is a mountain range in the Western United States between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California although the Carson Range spur lies primarily in Nevada. The Sierra Nevada is part of the American Cordillera, an almost continuous chain of mountain ranges that forms the western "backbone" of the Americas.
The Sierra runs 400 miles. Notable Sierra features include General Sherman, the largest tree in the world by volume; Lake Tahoe, the largest alpine lake in North America; Mount Whitney at 14,505ft., the highest point in the contiguous United States; and Yosemite Valley sculpted by glaciers from one hundred million year old granite, containing high waterfalls.
The Sierra is home to three national parks, twenty wilderness areas and two national monuments. These areas include Yosemite, Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks and Devils Postpile National Monument.
The California Gold Rush occurred in the western foothills from 1848 through 1855. Due to its inaccessibility, the range was not fully explored until 1912.
