Waving at the trains while at Mormon Rocks, CA

Leidys, my friend Mike, and I traveled to Mormon Rocks, CA for a day of driving, hiking, and getting the Jeeps dirty.

Mike and Leidys on the hiking trail


Waiting for the trains to come down the tracks


Here comes the train!




There goes the train!


Heading back to the Jeep after a long hike.

Description of Mormon Rocks, CA

MORMON ROCKS
In California along Interstate 15 about 19 miles north of San Bernardino, and at Junction 138 going west, there are some interesting rock formations. Locally known as the Mormon Rocks, but officially called Rock Candy Mountains, the strange rock formations are most unusual with holes everywhere poked out by the wind and weather through centuries. The formations are spread out for some distance along Route 138 and also on Route 2, both roads leading to the town of Wrightwood.



This area is one of the youngest and most active geological regions in North America. The Pass is formed by the overlapping of two mountain ranges (the San Gabriels by the San Bernardinos) rather than by the activity of an ancient or defunct river system. This overlapping is due to the grinding and clashing of continental (tectonic) plates in the Earth's crust, producing earthquake and other seismic activity along the San Andreas Fault line in Lone Pine Canyon.



The San Bernardinos themselves are an extension of a plate called the "Baja" which is in the process of being "shoved over" the "North American" plate (locally, the San Gabriels) by the pressure northward of yet another large plate termed the "Pacific", adjacent on its eastern edge to Mexico, Central and South America. No wonder there are earthquakes! The formation across from the Forest Service Fire Station on Hwy 138, is one result of all this geological pushing and shoving. It has been called either the "Rock Candy Mountains " or Mormon Rocks.

Pockmarked and weather-worn though they appear, the Mormon Rocks are a series of cemented sandstone beds much more resistant to erosion than the surrounding gravel and silt sands. Thus, the Rocks stand out in relief called hogbacks above the alluvial flats of the Cajon Canyon wash. Twenty miles to the northwest from the station, along Highway 138 near Valyermo, the traveler will find the Devil's "Punchbowl ", a formation which is geologically identical to the Mormon Rocks. This distance between the twin formations, and the radical tilt compared to the earth's surface in the stratification of the Rocks, are both due more to slow seismic activity in the San Andreas Rift Zone than to earthquakes.



The rock formations give an appearance of light fudge where bubbles burst and left thousands of holes. Best viewing and picture taking is after the noon hour when the sun highlights the holes in the Rock Candy Mountains.



Off I-15, west on 138 cross the railroad bridge and pick your spot. In this area you will see parts of Old Route66, and south of the 138 Hwy, the old road will take you south for several miles. The Cajon Pass was and still is the main route of traffic from the east and Salt Lake City.


Mormon Rocks Nature Trail
Behind the Mormon Rocks Fire Station, across a small footbridge, is a well - marked 1/2 mile nature trail of gradual switchbacks. The trail winds through manzanita, yucca, chamise, sage and other high-desert plants to a vista providing a view of the Cajon Summit region and Cleghorn Ridge to the east, Ralston Peak to the southeast, Upper Lytle Creek Divide and Cucamonga Wilderness to the southwest and to the north are the Mormon Rocks. Beyond the Mormon Rocks is Baldy Mesa.



For further information contact:



United States Department of Agriculture
Forest Service
Cajon Ranger District
1209 Lytle Creek Road
Lytle Creek, CA 92358

Ken.....Wouldn't it just be safer if you got her a passport? She shouldn't have to jump on those trains like that. It's really dangerous.

Quote:

Originally posted by DENNIS Ken.....Wouldn't it just be safer if you got her a passport? She shouldn't have to jump on those trains like that. It's really dangerous.

We kept a good distance from those fast-moving trains.

This summer we should get the green light to visit Baja. I can't wait!

Quote:

Originally posted by Ken Cooke This summer we should get the green light to visit Baja. I can't wait!

Thanks Ken, have been by them a lot of times and never even knew their history.. great shots, thanks for sharing

She sure is cute Ken. Good job!

Hey Ken. You mean to tell me that you haven't yet started a web site dedicated to photos of Leidys yet?

Ken--------you have got to counsel Leidys to smile when she is photographed---------man, what a beautiful smile!!!

Barry

Got me curious, Igor. Looks like it was Vasquez Rocks.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071230/locations

Thanks for the tour, Ken. We just drove through that way on our last trip back from Baja but have never stopped and explored. Can't go wrong with desert scenery and a pretty girl.

I am formerly from San Juan Capistrano, CA.

That is NOT how you wave at passing trains, Ken.