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Marble Mountains

Marble Mountains Wilderness Area (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat

Class in Session. So, who here has heard of the Marble Mountains?

No, the Marble Mountains of which I’m speaking are not in Vietnam, nor Southern California. Those are different ranges with the same name. The one I’m thinking of is in Northern California’s Siskiyou County.

Technically, they’re the northwest portion of the Salmon Mountains. Familiar, yet? No?

Maybe this will help … They’re a sub-range of the Klamath Mountains. Did I hear a “Huh!?”

Still cold? Here are some tips: the Marble Mountains area was one of the first four “Primitive Areas” designated in America (1931), became a Wilderness Area in 1953, and the Pacific Crest Trail passes through it.

Believe me. When I first learned of the Marble Mountains I was scratching my head, too. I’d never heard of them.

Bigleaf maple, Marble Mountains (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat

Images sent today by Leor Pantilat show a range deserving of greater recognition. The problem is, the Marble Mountains are in a state with 352 mountain ranges. So, it’s understandable that you might not have heard of them.

Wikipedia reports that more species of conifer (17) live in proximity there than any place else in the world, including the Brewer’s spruce; incense cedar; Western Juniper; white, subalpine and Shasta red fir; Engelmann spruce; mountain hemlock; Pacific yew; and whitebark, knobcone, foxtail, lodgepole, sugar, ponderosa and western white pine.

CaliforniaFallColor.com has mentioned the Marble Mountains previously, but Leor’s is the first report showing fall color there.

  • Locust, Marble Mountains (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat
  • Dogwood, Marble Mountains (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat
  • Bigleaf maple, Marble Mountains (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat
  • Marble Mountain Wilderness Area (10/6/19) Leor Pantilat

Bigleaf maple are Near Peak and lighting the Marble Mountain Wilderness Area’s remarkable conifer forest with yellow and gold. Dogwood are patchy and grasses from 6,000′ to 7,000′ are colorful. Peak should arrive within a fortnight.

Moving on … So, who here has heard of the Chemehuevi Mountains?

  • Marble Mountain Wilderness Area (3,000 to 5,000′) – Near Peak (50-75%) GO NOW! – Bigleaf maple.
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