Geography

California's Sierra Nevada ("snow-capped mountain") is a west-tilting 350-mile (560-km)-long block of granite. Extending from 14494 feet (Mt Whitney, the highest peak in the lower 48 states) in the east to near sea level in the west, it contains the spectacular Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks. The massive granite intruded the crust in Mesozoic time and was uplifted and faulted in the Tertiary during formation of the Basin and Range province to the east. Eroded residue from the Sierra Nevada has filled the Central Valley of California, giving rise to both extensive agriculture and the 1849 Gold Rush. - USGS

Physiography
Physiographic	Mountain Range

Work	Type	AsNotedIn	Creator	Note
The Secret of Macarger's Gulch (short story)	Short Story		Ambrose Bierce	But in my game bag was food, and the old house would afford shelter, if shelter were needed on a warm and dewless night in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, where one may sleep in comfort on the pine needles, without covering.