My First Visit to the Ancient Bristlecone Pines

Inyo National Forest, Mono and Inyo Counties, California
September 2-4, 2000

This was a Labor Day Weekend trip in my recently new Nissan Xterra. And I chose the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest as my destination since coming close to the oldest single living organism on the world would make the weekend a highlight. I also had dreams of hiking to the top of White Mountain, the third highest peak in California, since I read it was a fairly easy hike for a 14er.

After getting a late start, I ended up at the Grandview Campground as the sun was setting. I hurriedly prepared a sleeping spot in the back of the Xterra and fell asleep. I did not know much about the vehicle's security system, and after scurrying around the back trying to figure out how to get out from the back, the alarm went off for 15 seconds or so before I was able to turn it off (although I had no idea how I did that). Luckily most of the other people in the campground were already awake, and I got more laughs than I did grunts. I spent all day Sunday driving up White Mountain Road:

The Devils Punchbowl

Dianas Punchbowl
aka Devils Punchbowl
Nye County, Nevada

Los Angeles County, California   May 29, 2000
Nye County, Nevada   May 24, 2009
Montgomery County, Indiana   July 3, 2011

The Devil has quite a number of punchbowls in the United States. Over 20 places in more than a dozen states have been called the Devil's Punchbowl or Punch Bowl. The Devils Punchbowl is also found in other English-speaking countries including Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, England, and Wales. Since the devil is known in other languages, his punchbowls are also found elsewhere in the world. In Ecuador at the Rio Verde it is called La Ponchera del Diablo.

We are not talking about a large bowl from which a beverage such as punch is served. Rather, these punchbowls are unique geologic or topographic features which to an explorer's eye may look like a bowl-like depression. These features include basins, springs, lakes, and waterfalls. The devil's ownership to the punchbowls has been usurped by man, but the devil's presence at one time or another engulfed these places. The anxiety of a placenamer who came upon one of these punchbowls may have spawned a fright that only the devil can bring. A legend telling of the devil haunting, causing mischief, or bargaining for a soul at the punchbowl may have evoked anxiety and fright in the placenamer. Or it may have just been a shiver down the back of the placenamer as the punchbowl brought visions of the devil's dwelling.