On the road again

Once upon a time, when roads were less crowded and freeways filled the need for speed, people often stopped their cars at roadsides to look around.

That was decades ago, and many California drivers — hikers, too — carried well-thumbed copies of a small book whose readable texts and maps described the rock formations, the earthquake sites, and the areas of volcanic rubble that cars and hikers could see and understand as they paused along the roads of Northern California. It was a best-seller in its day.

Now the authors, both geologists, have enlarged their valuable book to describe the land, its history and its rock formations along the state’s major highways from the Oregon border as far south as Bishop (Inyo County) and San Luis Obispo.

Detailed maps, diagrams and vivid new color photos add to the book’s informal prose as it describes the rocks that carry evidence of the past earthquakes, giant landslides and volcanic eruptions that are visible wherever highways wind through roadcuts whose rocks have stories to tell.

As Alt and Hyndman say, writing before David Alt died recently, “We beg our readers to cherish roadcuts. Most rocks are interesting and quite a few of them are beautiful. Roadcuts provide our best chances to see and enjoy them.” They even tell readers to urge state highway officials “to leave roadcuts in their naturally raw, shocking condition, so everyone can enjoy the rocks.”

The book’s wealth of new color photographs by Katherine J. Baylor, another geologist and lover of rocks, enriches the text. And best of all, each image lists the precise coordinates of the spot where the photo was taken, so a single click on Google Maps puts the reader (and the car’s occupants) right there.

It may take your car a little longer to get from here to there on a California highway, but this book in the glove compartment could make the time worthwhile.