Speakers of Ohlone dialects occupied the lands encompassed by Alameda, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Mateo, and San Francisco Counties. One Ohlone triblet, the Carquin, occupied lands on the north shore of the Carquinez Strait in Solano County and probably in the southern part of Napa County.
Alameda/Calaveras Creek confluence3 bedrock mortarsGood luck finding these, folks. We had to be led to this site by someone who knew exactly where the mortars were. On a revisit, even with the GPS, we couldn’t find them all. Siltation may have claimed the “lost” mortars.
Garin, single mortar1 bedrock mortar next to the trail under a tree.Was this little camp a traveler’s rest stop?Bob’s right hand just about spans the mortar’s mouth.One should secure permission before visiting this site.
North Walpert LookoutTwo bedrock mortars.Elevation 1480 ft.Jeff certainly has a flair for discovering obscure, out-of-the-way sites.The views form this site are phenomenal.Looking west over Stonebrae.Mt. Diablo and the Black Hills rise in the distance.Oh yeah…one of the mortars.Photographs by Bob Bardell.
Third TerraceSix bedrock mortars spread over a fairly wide area.Elevation 1035 ft.A view of the third terrace.One of the two two-mortar rocks here. Note the battered interior of the funnel mortar.Looking at a mortar rock holding a big bowl mortar.The bowl mortar.Above photographs by Bob Bardell.The other two-mortar rock here.Bob stands near the other mortar […]
Brushy Peak Loop Trail6 bedrock mortars and two probable mortarsElevation 1338 ft.We missed this rock in our earlier survey. The new Brushy Peak Loop Trail passes right by it.
Joel’s Fat Lip MortarsThree bedrock mortars in a beautiful picnic siteElevation 776 ft.Thanks to Joel for discovering this special site.We’ve found plenty of mortars with rounded rims in the Bay Area but few whose rims rise above the surface of the surrounding rock and none that rise so dramatically.This rim forms a nearly perfect ring. […]
Ryan’s Hideaway24 bedrock mortars.This site is named in honor of Ryan the Cowboy, who has kicked us off the ridge several times when we accidentally strayed onto private property.Being tucked away in a little hollow amid sheltering trees gives this site a “hideaway” feel. Look for more mortars on and around the little hill that […]
Vernal Pool23 bedrock mortarsElevation 1025 ft.Access to this site is strictly controlled. Call LARPD at (925) 373-5707 for details.One of the vernal pools that give this site its name.Another view of the same pool, this time with water in it.The Brain lives in a nearby cave.Jim and Ranger Pat Sotelo head for a rock shelter […]
Club Moto30+ bedrock mortarsElevation 663 ft.Thanks to Adrian for turning us on to this site above the Club Moto dirt bike track.The mortars here sit on a little knob at the mouth of the Altamont Pass. Bob enjoys the spectacular view over the Livermore Valley.Many of the mortars here are huge and weathered. The sandstone […]
Mira Vista Park10 bedrock mortars and 60+ cupules on a chlorite blueschist boulder near Baxter Creek.Elevation 116 ft.See Canyon Trail Petroglyphs for more details about cupule petroglyphs. Also see Cupule Petroglyphs in the Diablo Range by E. Breck Parkman in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 254-55 (1986). […]
