California: Touring Hywy 395 Fossil Falls 3 '09

Highway 395 runs along the eastern side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range in California. Some of our most memorable road trips  have been along this highway.  Bruce and I decided to spend an extra day to revisit some of these sights.  First stop: Fossil Falls:

 Bruce and I had been here several times with the Sierra Club's  Camera and the Desert Sections,  and yet,  it was still hard to find.  The formations  cannot be seen from the road, and only one small sign off of Highway 395  exists to even alert motorists that there is anything of interest nearby.  If you go to Fossil Falls, located just off U. S. Highway 395 on the east side of the southern end of California’s Sierra Nevada, don’t expect to find either fossils or falls.  What you will find, rather, is a spectacular lava flow sculpted by rushing water and wind late in the Ice Ages—a “fossil” of nature’s handiwork. 

  As you hike the rocky trail through the formation, you’ll wonder at first where the “falls” are because the land immediately before you is relatively flat, but abruptly, you’ll come to the chasm that reveals the spectacular lava falls. 

The black shiny lava has been worn smooth over the eons.  It was primarily water from the Owens River, which once flowed from an ancient lake, that polished the lava into a smooth structure.  The resulting formation is reminiscent of a Renoir sculpture.

   You can climb down into the chasm and explore the lava gorge, or you can take the high ground and enjoy the scenery that surrounds you. 
For more information on this unusual  place see:
http://www.desertusa.com/mag07/jul07/fossil.html