Wednesday Filler: That Can't Be There?!

Mountain Press has a series of books covering the geology of various states.  As usual, Michigan has been left missing, but what might come as a bit of a surprise to many is that states not otherwise known for being particularly rocky have made the cut.  Indiana, Nebraska, Florida... each have their own little "roadside geology" books.  So far, I have read the New York and Ohio selections with the intention of making a series of posts on what lies beneath the feet in North America.  Anyway, plans aside, I mention such things because we tend to have misconceptions about what an area has to offer.

Take the below picture, for example:

Now where would we think this is?

Perhaps somewhere out west, in the Rockies, or maybe even in the Adirondacks or some such place.  Certainly it is a mountain scene with all the trappings of something passably northern.

No, this is Big Bear Lake, in none other than heavily urbanized, hot and dusty Southern California.  They have mountains there, you see, with substantial enough elevation to produce climactic zones ranging from the hot and dusty to the nearly Arctic.  The lake sits nicely at about 6,800 feet above sea level, meaning the winter gets regular snowfalls and the summers are lovely, resting in the 70's.