Ring Mountain
Miwok Petroglyphs
While Ring Mountain, just north of Richardson Bay,
was on my I-gotta-check-it-out-because-it's-there list, in the end this understated ride promised nothing but
delivered just what I was looking for.
The hills were covered with dry yellow grasses, and from these rose fields of blueschist boulders encrusted
with multi-colored lichens.
The monoliths gave the area a strange and desolate feel compared to the congested roads and millionaire suburbia
down below.
The cracked boulders, dusty trails and dry heat created an otherworldly sensation, like riding through a kingdom
ruled by the dreams of lizards.
It was then I happened across a large boulder between two hills on the ridge overlooking Richardson Bay, with some unusual
markings on it...
Photos
Click to expand
Over hill, over dale.
At the summit of Ring Mountain, which is another old Nike missile site along with Hill 88 and China Camp,
looking down at Paradise cove
on the eastern end of the Tiburon peninsula.
Nice metamorphic formation.
Metamorphic rocks result when rocks of any kind are subject to the high pressures and temperatures found miles underground.
The rocks here are blueschist, an uncommon variant
created from high pressure, but at low temperatures near the surface. Pressure from the collision of plates
may be resposible. Blue refers to the color (hey I didn't name it), and schist to the grainy texture.
Whoa! There are ancient carvings on it! The sign says they were carved by the Miwok Indians. All of the
carvings are circles. This rock is hard-- it must have taken a lot of effort. Unfortunately, there are
more contempory carvings too, where it looks like keys were the primary tool. They didn't get deep at all,
just enough to look terrible. Fortunately, they didn't mess up all the carvings here. I checked out that other
boulder up there to the right, but no petroglyphs for some reason.
A couple closeups of unmolested petroglyphs. Okay, so they aren't little figures hunting stuff or playing a flute.
These are just circles. Lot's of circles. Carved without modern tools. Why so many circles?
Forces you to think a little bit.
Streams of energy? Crop circles? Nasca lines? Nope, just singletrack.
All singletrack is
off limits to bikes though, just "service roads" are legal.
Hardly anyone was around so I felt okay leaving my bike
for a couple minutes to go explore.
Personally, I think it's pretty cool there are precolumbian rock carvings just a bike ride away from my apartment.
(b. September 3, 2001)
Back to top.
Back home.
At the summit of Ring Mountain, which is another old Nike missile site along with Hill 88 and China Camp,
looking down at Paradise cove
on the eastern end of the Tiburon peninsula.
Nice metamorphic formation.
Metamorphic rocks result when rocks of any kind are subject to the high pressures and temperatures found miles underground.
The rocks here are blueschist, an uncommon variant
created from high pressure, but at low temperatures near the surface. Pressure from the collision of plates
may be resposible. Blue refers to the color (hey I didn't name it), and schist to the grainy texture.
A couple closeups of unmolested petroglyphs. Okay, so they aren't little figures hunting stuff or playing a flute.
These are just circles. Lot's of circles. Carved without modern tools. Why so many circles?
Forces you to think a little bit.
Streams of energy? Crop circles? Nasca lines? Nope, just singletrack.
All singletrack is
off limits to bikes though, just "service roads" are legal.
Hardly anyone was around so I felt okay leaving my bike
for a couple minutes to go explore.