Page 60 - 1915, Springs of CA.

56 SPRINGS OF CALIFORNIA.
The analysis indicates water of moderate concentration in which
salinity is relatively small, primary alkalinity, secondary alkalinity,
and tertiary alkalinity all being prominent properties.
The predominant rock in Reds Meadows is granitic, and the springs
issue from such material, but on the slopes about 100 yards above
them is a small bluff of dark, columnar lava. Along the western
border of the meadows also there is much of this columnar rock, and
at the Devils Post Pile, a mile northwest of the springs, columnar
jointing is exceptionally well developed. The presence of the lava
may account for an abnormal temperature gradient that gives rise to
the heated water, and the high content of bicarbonates in the water
is also worthy of note in connection with the lava. The existence of
several carbonated springs in this locality may here be mentioned,
though their discussion will be taken up later.
HOT SPRINGS AT HEAD OF FISH VALLEY (FRESNO 2).
At the head of Fish Valley and 3 or 4 miles eastward from a Carbon-
ated spring (Fresno 1, p. 239) in this valley are two warm springs and
subsidiary seepages on the mountain side. The springs yield only a
small flow, are not near a main trail, and have not been often visited.
Their occurrence in the same region as Reds Meadows Hot Springs
is of geologic interest, however, because thermal springs are not com-
mon in the high Sierra.

SLATES HOT SPRINGS (MONTEBEY 4).
In the Coast Ranges of Monterey County thermal springs of note
issue at four places. The southernmost is at Slates Hot Springs on
Mr. J. A. Little's ranch. The water here issues at ten principal
points in a distance of 125 yards, halfway up the face of bluffs that
here border the ocean. A small private bathhouse has been built
near the easternmost spring. The waters range in temperature from
110° to 121°, are mildly sulphureted, and the run-off streams are
lined with abundant green algous growth. Small deposits of alum,
gypsum, and carbonate of lime or magnesia were noted at the edge
of one spring. The waters taste distinctly sweetish.
About one-fourth mile northwest of the main group, on the left
bank of Hot Creek, is another spring, 98° in temperature. This
spring yields perhaps 5 gallons a minute and is used for laundering
clothes.
It is said that the location of the springs was described by an
Indian to Mr. Thomas B. Slate, who made his way southward with
difficulty along the steep, brushy slopes, and succeeded in finding only
the warm spring beside the creek. Later, however, he came down
the coast in a boat, found the springs on the bluff, and settled near
them in 1868. The locality is occasionally made a camping place by