DG

I was looking at a photo some friends posted on facebook of themselves standing on the shores of Shaver Lake in Fresno County, California.  He was standing barefoot in the “sand”--the coarse granular material formed by the decomposition of the granitic rock that is so prevalent in the Sierras and Los Angeles Mountains.  And here I was, feeling homesick for Decomposed Granite or DG as it is often called—the stuff which provided the base materials for many of the soils I studied during the years we lived in California.  But my fondest memories are of hiking hundreds of miles of trails composed of light gray DG in the Sierras.
So here I reminisce photographically about some of the trails I’ve walked in decomposed granite in California and a few flowers that push out of the gravely soils.

All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies. Psalm 25:10 (ESV)

Trail to Kaiser Peak-Fresno County, California

Trail to Kaiser Peak-Fresno County, California

Trail Down from Alta Peak-Sequoia National Park

Trail Down from Alta Peak-Sequoia National Park

Trail to Alta Peak-Sequoia National Park

Trail to Alta Peak-Sequoia National Park

Trail to Alta Peak-Sequoia National Park

Lakes Trail headed down from Pear Lake-Sequoia National Park

Lakes Trail-headed down toward The Watchtower-Sequoia National Park

John Muir Trail headed down from Nevada Falls

Pacific Crest Trail north of Walkers Pass in Kern County

Trail from Stony Creek to Jenny Lake in Kings Canyon National Park

Trail on Yosemite Valley Floor between Vernal Falls Trail and Mirror lake Trail

Trail to Chilnualna Falls in Yosemite National Park

Mountain pride penstemon (Penstemmon newberryi) along Alta Peak Trail

Blue elderberry and the Alta Peak Trail going off into the fog

Drummond's Anemone (Anemone drummondii) on Alta Peak