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> Home Welcome to the Sierra Club San Gorgonio ChapterServing the Inland area of Southern California, Riverside and San Bernardino counties.. Tuesday, February 2Great Palm Springs Area Hikes Author Philip Feranti will present a slide program from his regional number one best-selling book: 140 Great hikes in and near Palm Springs. The program will cover Joshua Tree National Park, the Mecca Hills, the Orocopia Mountain Wilderness, the Palm Springs Indian Canyons and the Santa Rosa/San jacinto Mountains National Monument. Philip has hiked the American and Canadian West for over 35 years. He specializes in the greater Palm Springs area, as well as Southern Utah and Colorado's Front Range. He has written ten books, seven regional best sellers and one nationally acclaimed title. He is a noted hiking guide, public speaker and the founder of Trasformation Seminars. See his web site at www.philipferranti.com.
Programs begin at 7:30 p.m.
Sand to Snow National Monument: by Joan Taylor Where Southern California and Northern California Meet It’s been a long trek up from Baja along the spine of the Peninsular Ranges with the desert always far below to the east. Finally, in the last 24 hours I’ve dropped a mindnumbing eight thousand feet in elevation off the icy flanks of Mount San Jacinto down to hot sands and biting winds in San Gorgonio Pass. Getting a quick drink at Snow Creek then crossing under Interstate 10, in a few more miles I’ll finally make it back to blissful running water and shade at Whitewater River.
Who am I, and where am I bound? I could be one of hundreds of Pacific Crest Trail “thru hikers” on their way from Mexico to Canada every spring, trying to navigate this daunting stretch of the great trail in the narrow window of opportunity when the winter snow along mountain ridges the has melted enough to be passable, but before the desert stretches become unbearably hot. Or I could just as likely be a mountain lion, a bear, a pocket mouse, or one of many wild creatures that for millennia have moved back and forth between the Peninsular Ranges, which start in Baja California, and the Transverse Ranges which create the great Mojave Desert of upper California. Many diverse species depend for their long-term health on the transmission of genetic material in this way from one population to the next, and San Gorgonio Pass is a critical link in this vast chain of mountain ranges and their flora and fauna. That’s why renowned conservation biologist Michael Soulet called this area “the place where Southern California and Northern California meet.”
In order to preserve this vital connection, Senator Feinstein, at the urging of conservationists from Coachella Valley and elsewhere, is considering legislation to create the “Sand to Snow” National Monument. Sand to Snow would be a land bridge, preserving this critical wildlife linkage. This is also the interface between the San Gorgonio Wilderness and the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto NationalMonument to the south and west, the Transverse Ranges to the north, and Joshua Tree National Park to the east. What a great place for man or beast to roam! The Sand to Snow National Monument is a place of great diversity. Traversed by two major branches of the San Andreas earthquake fault, this region has dramatic topography and resources. At 11,280 feet above sea level, Mt San Gorgonio stands as the highest peak in Southern California, and it feeds the perennial streams of Whitewater River, Mission Creek, and Big Morongo and Little Morongo Creeks. Rugged and trackless, the upper reaches of north fork Whitewater River have hundred foot high waterfalls, with dramatic terrain and vegetation reminiscent of Nepal for the intrepid few who venture there. On the southern slopes of the San Gorgonio Wilderness you’ll find some of the finest big game habitat in the state. Through the center of the proposed national monument runs the ecotone between the Sonoran and Mojave deserts, namely, the Big Morongo Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC). Big Morongo ACEC is not only one of the best birding areas in California, it constitutes the critical wildlife link to Joshua Tree National Park. Thus, the Sand to Snow ties the Peninsular Range ecosystem to not only the Transverse Ranges but also to the great Mojave Desert. Encompassing approximately 162,000 acres with over 90% conservation ownership, creation of the Sand to Snow Monument will bring permanent protection and visibility to an evolutionary hotspot and an area of remarkable biological diversity and scenic beauty. San Gorgonio Outings Calendar FEBRUARY 1 - APRIL 30, 2010> More |
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