Looking to the North from hear you can see the towering columns
called the Dardanelle’s. The Dardanelle’s are part of the
160,000-acre Carson-Iceberg Wilderness, which straddles the
crest
of the central Sierra Nevada, within the Stanislaus and Toiyabe
National Forests. The Wilderness Act of 1964 established a
National
Wilderness Preservation System "to secure for the American
people
of present and future generations the benefits of an enduring
resource of wilderness." The Carson-Iceberg Wilderness became
part
of the National Wilderness Preservation System with passage of
the
California Wilderness Act of 1984.
Behind you to the east is the Dodge Ridge Ski Resort, which
opened for business in 1950, and had everything a new ski
resort
should have. Dodge Ridge is considered the closest snow to home
from the Central Valley and most Bay Area communities -- less
than
three hours in most cases, with no mountain passes to cross.
Dodge
Ridge offers sixty trails spread over 815 acres and accessed by
twelve lifts. During the peak winter ski season up to 4,000
people
a day make their way to Dodge Ridge Ski Resort.
To the west across the canyon is a private working forest,
which
has provided a continuous supply timber for everything from
fruit
boxes to window frames for over 100 years. Over that period of
time
the forest has been harvested and grown the equivalent of three
times. Timber began to be harvested in this area in 1899 when
the
Madera Sugar Pine Lumber Company operated miles of narrow gauge
railroad track. Five wood burning Shay locomotives hauled
massive
log trains to the mill over the extensive rail network. Since
it
beginning nearly 10 billion board feet (833,000 homes) of
lumber
have been harvested from the forests. The same forest is a
designated California State Game refuge. No hunting is allowed
and
the possession of firearms is prohibited.