Hi All. I thought maybe some of you would like to see the area I live in.

My home is in San Benito County. At present it is a sparsely populated county, but that is coming to an end at a fast pace. I live in the valley area between two small mountain ranges. We call them foothills, as they aren’t much higher then 1400ft.

If you look close at the area starting about ¼ of the way in from bottom right on the map you can see the trace of the San Andreas fault. If you follow it correctly you will exit the map at the top left hand corner.

Just to the right of it is the Calaveras fault. It will exit the map at the top about an inch to the right of the San Andreas fault. You can’t see the trace in the open green area as this is aquaculture land and the continued working of land has removed all surface traces of the fault.

Moving towards the center of the map and down to the right hand corner is where I spend most of my time when I have nothing else better to do. It seems that I’m spending more time there. The elevation in this area is from 4,000 to 5,000 feet with one mountain breaking the 5,000 elevation.

If you move up to the second open small valley above the lake, which is Hernandez Lake you will see the area of Panoche Valley. Just west of there is an even smaller valley know as Little Panoche Valley. When I talk about South County it is this area I’m referring to. It is in this area that I go to most of the time and do most of my ground squirrel and pig hunting, but I won’t say anything about that as it upsets Cathryn. I also do a lot of horseback ridding in this area.

There is one fault located on the ranch where I spend most of my time. It is known as the Call Mountain fault and is an inactive fault. There may be one more fault, but as it’s not listed on any maps I have so I can’t say for sure that it is. It is a small creek that runs from the north to the south and then turns back to the east to end in Little Panoche Valley. On each side of the creek there are remnants of an ancient lake bottom that has been turned up 90 degrees. There is about a 20ft offset between the two with the one on the north side of the creek being lower then the one on the south side of the creek. The hills on both side of the creek are very steep. The horse I ride will not go up them. He has more sense then I do.

Just a little ways up the creek is a very small valley. If it has a name I have no idea what it is. This is where I camp at sometimes when I spend a couple of days up there. Talk about being quiet. No sounds of vehicles, radios, television, nothing. All you can hear is the sound of crickets, coyotes, owls, fox and the occasional scream of a mountain cat. Now there’s a sound you will never forget. The sound is of something that is half human and half animal that is in terror, or great pain. It will send a shiver down your back and the whole area will become as silent as the dead. When the crickets start up again I know it’s okay for me to start breathing again.

I guess the one thing I enjoy about this area is that you don’t have to travel very far to be alone with nothing but your thoughts to keep you company. I hope and wish that all of you have your own little area. Take Care…Don in creepy town

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