Elephants Back seen from the Pacific Crest Trail/Tahoe to Yosemite Trail junction
between
Frog Lake
and Winnemucca Lake
The Carson Pass Management Area
has various prominent landmarks—many of them with a history
of volcanism such as Elephants Back (also
written Elephant's Back) and
Round Top.
Elephants Back is located southwest of
shallow Frog Lake.
In contrast to Round Top Peak, an
ancient craggy volcanic vent, Elephants Back is a smooth
massive lava dome—an elongated dome of solidified lava
(see, for example,
Round Top Geologic Area).
Elephants Back and nearby Red Lake Peak
are part of the present-day Sierran crest
within the Carson Pass region. Geologists
study this area to understand the volcanic, stratigraphic and
structural evolution of the
Hope Valley-Carson Pass-Kirkwood
palaeocanyon system.
A geologic map of the Carson Pass-Kirkwood Valley area (Figure 2 in
GSA Bulletin paper) illustrates the relation
of Elephants Back—chronostratigraphicly marked as
stratified cobble
breccia-conglomerate—to other landmarks including
Black Butte, Round Top, Thimble Peak and Thunder Mountain.
While you are hiking around Elephants Back and are surveying the
fascinating scenery, you may wonder how this landscape will look
like in coming epochs—projecting from past to future
events.
The picture above shows the northwest-facing slope and rock
outcroppings of Elephants Back, seen from the trail junction where
the Pacific Crest Trail
(PCT) branches off from the hiking trail
between
Frog Lake
and
Winnemucca Lake.
The latter flanks Elephants Back. Along this trail,
you get close-up views of Elephants Back's talus slopes.
Stephen Berei, in his
LAKE TAHOE ALL ACCESS blog,
describes a hike to the top of Elephants Back with its spectacular
vistas of surrounding lakes including the Blue Lakes and
Caples Lake.
Ted's OUTDOOR World also features Elephants
Back's environment, including snapshots of beautiful wildflowers.
