Sunol Park, Wild and Rugged Scenes

Remember in a previous post on Rock Gardening that I mentioned that F.W. Meyer looked at Nature to inspire his rock gardens? His words reminded me of one of my favorite places, Sunol Regional Wilderness.

The rocks at Little Yosemite are large
and jumbled together.
Can you tell that the brown rock is
about the size of a two story house?
July 24, 2014

 "The stratified rocks which we admire most in Nature are not those which show monotonous and even lines all at the same angle of inclination, but the wild and rugged scenes, where massive rocks — no matter how evenly or regularly their successive layers might have been disposed originally — have become disturbed by subterraneous forces which shattered their once regular strata in the wildest profusion."

Wild and rugged rocks, indeed, wild and crazy rocks! Just like Sunol and in particular, Little Yosemite.

Andrew Alden posted this fun Geological Outings Around the Bay: Sunol Regional Park. He included some great maps. Look for the LY on the map for Little Yosemite.

LY is Little Yosemite.
Check here for the other abbreviations (from KQED).
The original map looks like it is based
on this USGS map for Alameda County.

From same Andrew Alden article (KQED).
Map is from John Wakabayashi at Fresno State.

On my long list of things to do someday, has been to find out more about Sunol geology. Back 30 years ago, before internet, the only thing I could find was a study by a geologist nun. I do not know if I still have her report, but I will look.

Here's more from the internet about geology of Sunol and serpentine soils that occur there.

• Doris Sloan's Geology of the San Francisco Bay Region, which should live in one's car.
• Introduction to California Soils and Plants: Serpentine, Vernal Pools, and Other Geobotanical Wonders, Arthur R. Kruckeberg, 2006, will be in our car as soon as I find where I put it.
• California Serpentine: Flora, Vegetation, Geology, Soils, and Management Problems, Arthur R. Kruckeberg, 1985.