Celebrating 30 years of wilderness designation
In the 1930’s, 234,000 acres were set aside as the Salmon-Trinity Primitive Area. With the signing of the California Wilderness Act twenty years later much of the Trinity Alps was officially designated as wilderness. 26,510 acres were added in 2006 when the Northern California Coastal Wild Heritage Act was signed. The Trinity Alps now contain 525,477 acres—making it one of the largest wilderness areas in the state and twice as large as any other wilderness in the Klamath region. Because of its size, it can be thought of as containing several distinct regions. These regions are ecologically and geologically based on climate and rock type. The western half—known as the Green Alps—sees up to twice as much precipitation as the eastern half and are composed of much gentler mountains. The central granitic batholith defines the White Alps, a land of spires and glacially carved valleys with hanging lakes as a result. The eastern-most section is called the Red Alps because serpentine soils are
common.
This video is a collection of many years of exploration across this wilderness, and dedicated on John O. Sawyer who loved the Alps, and especially the trees, more than anyone I know.