SNOW MOUNTAIN WILDERNESS AREA

OUR ARCHAEOLOGICAL CREW WAS GIVEN A PROJECT TO SURVEY IN THE SNOW MOUNTAIN AREA OF THE MENDOCINO FOREST. IT WAS A MOUNTAIN WHERE THE INDIANS COLLECTED SALT - MANY DEPOSITS. ONCE THERE WE RECORDED MANY PREHISTORIC SITES. WE HAD HORSES BRING UP OUR PROVISIONS TO CAMP AS IT IS A VERY STEEP CLIMB. MANY SMALL SPRINGS ARE THERE AND MANY PREHISTORIC CAMPSITES WITH DEBITAGE AND PROJECTILE POINTS AS WELL AS GROUND STONE FRAGMENTS. THIS AREA HAD NEVER BEEN SURVEYED BEFORE, IT HAD SOME OUTCROPS OF BASALT AND A MEMORIAL STONE FOR A MAN WHO HAD EXPLORED HERE LOCATED BY A LARGE SPRING. THERE WAS A PREHISTORIC SITE HERE AS WELL. WE FOUND SITES DATING TO AT LEAST 8000 YEARS BP. I REMEMBER CAMPING ALONG A TRAIL AND PUTTING MY FOOD UP TO A TREE SO THE BEARS WOULD NOT GET IT. THERE WERE ALL KINDS OF ANIMALS TRAVELING THIS TRAIL AT NIGHT AND I DON'T THINK I SLEPT MUCH. I WAS WORRIED ABOUT THE BEARS COMING INTO MY TENT!