The Chocolate Mountains of California are located in both Imperial and Riverside Counties in the Colorado Desert of Southern California. Stretching more than 60 miles in a northwest-to-southeast direction, they are located east of the Salton Sea and southwest of the Chuckwalla Mountains and the Colorado River. To the northwest lie the Orocopia Mountains.
The Chocolate Mountains form the northeast boundary of the Salton Trough, extending as a narrow range some 1 80 miles southeast from the Orocopia Mountains to the Colorado River valley. The range reaches an elevation of 2,475 feet at Mount Barrow and serves as a drainage divide for the Salton Watershed to the west.
The mountains receive very little rainfall—typically 4–6 inches in a normal year. The predominant plants are creosote bushes, and the mean annual temperature is between 60 °F and 75 °F. The range is composed of Precambrian basement rocks and Orocopia Schist with Mesozoic granite intrusions. The area hosted numerous small gold workings in the 19th century, including the Mesquite Mine to the east, which remained active into the 20th century. The Bradshaw Trail, the first Euro-American route to the Colorado River from Riverside, passed by the side of these mountains.
Note: A large part of the range is occupied by the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range and is closed to the public.
Logging requirements: Send your answers through the message center or e-mail the following answers, before logging your find. Make sure to mention the name of this EarthCache. As soon as you send the answers you may log the find, there no need to wait for an answer before claiming the cache.
1. Describe three of the distinct rock and striation colors you see in the mountain formation.
2. Describe the direction of the mountains striations.
3.What is the elevation at ground zero?
4. Take a photo of you (or your signature item if you don't want to show your face) at the posted coordinates. This photo MUST be uploaded to your "found it" log. Each log MUST have a unique and different photo. No two logs may contain the same photo.