Desert Pinnacles. © Copyright 2019 G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.
Tufa pinnacles in the middle of a vast desert valley.
These lonely tufa tower pinnacles stand alone in the middle of a very large Southern California desert valley. If you passed on the nearby highway and did not know they were there you could easily overlook them — though when you do spot them they make a striking sight.
Beyond their austere and striking visual appeal, they also provide evidence of the remarkable ways that the landscape formed. Despite being in a location which today seems about as arid and unforgiving as you can imagine, they were formed by water. This entire basin was filled with a lake a long time ago, and the towers grew around submerged springs. When the lake disappeared the towers remained.
G Dan Mitchell is a California photographer and visual opportunist. His book, “California’s Fall Color: A Photographer’s Guide to Autumn in the Sierra” is available from Heyday Books and Amazon.
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