Pueblo Mountains
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Pueblo Mountains south of Fields, Oregon
The Pueblo Mountains are a remote mountain chain in the United States. It is located in southeastern Oregon and northwestern Nevada. The highest peak is that of the Pueblo Mountain. The dominant vegetation in this mountain range forming grasses and sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata ); next to it there along some watercourses growing bushes with black poplars, aspens, and willows. Most of the Pueblo Mountains is public land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The area is little cultivated, and most visitors come for hiking, camping, and hunting.
Geology
The Pueblo Mountains in southeastern Oregon are part of the Basin and Range Province of the Western United States, which is characterized by a series of parallel fault blocks and long runs in the north -south mountain ranges forms that are separated by wide high mountain steppe valleys. The Steens - Pueblo - breaking Scholl block forms the northern foothills of these structures. The Puebloketto is not as massive as the Steens Mountains; it is, however, inclined at an angle of 45 degrees, that is much stronger than the Steen chain. This contributes to the relatively high altitude main ridge line of the mountain range, which is on average 220 m above sea level.
The mountain range consists of the same basalt that covers a large part of southeastern Oregon, but there are the Pueblo Mountains from much older metamorphic rock layers that lie beneath newer basalt layers. These older rock layers form a pending steep slope on the east side of the mountain range. This rock may be related to a native of the Triassic formations of the Blue Mountains Province to the north. These strata have inclusions of diorite and granodiorite, which were probably created in the Cretaceous period. The southern section of the Pueblo chain consists of metamorphic rock that is rich in gold, silver and copper interspersed quartz.
Topography
The Pueblo Mountain cover an area of 920 square kilometers. They extend over 48 km in a north-south direction and 35 km in the west-east direction. The highest point of the mountain range is the peak of Pueblo Mountain with 2631 m above sea level. This peak is located in Oregon, about 13 km north of the State Border to Nevada. Directly west of the Pueblo Mountain is the highest point of West Pueblo Ridge; these are with 2570 m to the second highest point of the Pueblo Mountains. This ridge forms a westward sloping steep drop which runs the entire length of the Pueblo Mountains.
The landscape of the Pueblo Mountains is characterized by rugged ridge with drop offs that were cut by seasonal water-bearing runs. In between are high -desert basin and in the vicinity of sources grasslands, of which 10 Cent and Machine Meadow Meadow are the two largest. In the Pueblo chain there are very few rivers that are over water-bearing throughout the year, among them Van Horn Creek and Denio Creek.
Flora and Fauna
The vegetation in the Pueblo Mountains is dominated by hochgewachsenem sagebrush and steppe grasses. At the domestic grass species include Idaho fescue, Pseudoroegneria spicata, downy brome, Achnatherum thurberianum, flat -spiked Trepse ( Bromus carinatus ), Poa secunda and Elymus elymoides. There are high-altitude sources on mountain meadows and narrow green corridors along the water-bearing watercourses Open all year. In some of them thrive poplars, aspens and willows. Meadow and alpine steppe flowers that thrive in the Pueblo Mountains, include delphiniums, Castilleja, finger herbs, primroses, aquilegia, jugglers, asters, buttercups, Low Mountain Everlasting ( Antennaria dimorpha ), lupine, Arrowleaf Balsamroot, Penstemon, Agoseris, whitlow, Calochortus, Calochortus nuttallii, evening primrose and irises.
The existing wildlife in the Pueblo Mountains is adapted to the dry mountain climate. Pronghorn antelope are frequently encountered in the open, covered with sagebrush valleys, while mule deer are welcome to stay in the poplars and willows. The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in 1976, 1980 and 1983 bighorn sheep in the Pueblo Mountains exposed, staying mainly on the steep slopes and on the rocks of the mountain ridges. Genuine rabbit, Antilopenziesel, pack rats and coyotes are also in the mountain range at home, just like mouse ears. Beavers live in several mountain streams and in the area of 10 cents Meadows and in the riparian areas of the Van Horn Creek. Among the bird species that are widespread in the Pueblo Mountains, including sage grouse, Canyon Wren ( Catherpes mexicanus ), rock wren ( Salpinctes obsoletus ), Quail ( Callipepla californica ), and chukar ( Alectoris chukar ). There are also some larger bird species such as the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos ), red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis ), turkey vulture ( Cathartes aura ), as well as ravens and crows that take advantage of the thermals above the mountains. The rare White Horse Cutthroatforelle (Oncorhynchus clarki henshawi ) occurs both in Van Horn Creek and in Denio Creek.
Human use
The majority of the Pueblo Mountains is public land that is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The entire mountain range is quite isolated and recorded so few visitors. Hiking, camping, hunting, horseback riding, wildlife watching and photography are the most common activities of visitors in the area. In these mountains there are also areas that are the economic Pasture available as well as prospecting license for mining minerals. Also, the commercial use of wind power is checked in the Pueblo Mountains.
Although the Pueblo Mountains are not designated as Wilderness Area, but can hiking in these mountains be exhausting. The Desert Trail runs through it, but is not a hiking path. The route is marked only by a simple stone cairns, which serve as a guide and allow walkers to move from one marker to the next through the semi-arid, dominant steppe country. The cairns were established jointly by the Bureau of Land Management, the Oregon Parks and Recreation Department and the Desert Trail Association ( a private-sector organization).
Domestic cattle and sheep graze in the Pueblo Mountains since the time emerged as the mid-1860s on the eastern edge of the mountain range, the first ranches. Today, the Bureau of Land Management controls the grazing land in the area. That's why you meet on some mountain meadows and on open pasture in the spring and summer grazing cattle.
Miners were among the first Europeans who settled in the Pueblo Mountains. There is in the mountain range at least eighteen places where in the past, mining was carried. However, the commercial exploitation of raw materials has never been very successful in the field. Today, in some parts of the Pueblo Mountains are still valid claims.
Wind power is the subject of experiments in recent years. In 2006, the Bureau of Land Management approved a 189 -acre test facility in the Pueblo Mountains. A private wind energy companies was thus allowed to set up two masts with meteorological instruments to operate this and to entertain, to determine whether the weather conditions in the area make possible an economical use of wind turbines. 2009 extended the Bureau of Land Management for permission for a further three years.