Skip to main content

Up Next

Devil's Jaw

Devil's Jaw

Season 3 Episode 303
25:40
Delta Encounters

Delta Encounters

Season 1 Episode 136
53:31
Scotty's Castle

Scotty's Castle

Season 6 Episode 607
28:17
Sidecars

Sidecars

Season 6 Episode 6009
26:04
Whistling Champ

Whistling Champ

Season 14 Episode 1407
25:55
San Luis Obispo Train

San Luis Obispo Train

Season 5 Episode 505
27:42
Desert Tower

Desert Tower

Season 5 Episode 5007
27:50
Things Beside The Road

Things Beside The Road

Season 8 Episode 8003
27:15
Back to Show
California's Gold with Huell Howser

Rocks in the Water

California is full of them. They are located in both fresh and salt water. Some are big and some are small. And they're all part of our state's rich geological and human history. We're talking about rocks in the water! And in this episode host Huell Howser visits three of the most fascinating of these rocks. First, Huell travels to scenic Lake Tahoe and boards a boat to Emerald Bay where he climbs all over Fannette Island, the only island in the entire lake. A sparsely- timbered, brush-covered upthrust of granite that rises 150 feet above the turquoise water, this island is believed to be a resistant rib of rock which was overridden by the glacial ice that carved out Emerald Bay. But the payoff comes when Huell reaches the very top of the rock and visits the historic stone "tea house" built in 1928 and hears about its colorful history.

Next Huell travels to the very northern coast of California to see first hand some of the most unusual rocks you'll ever see in the water. They're part of the jetty system built to protect ship traffic in and out of Humbolt Bay. These huge, reinforced concrete shapes resembling children's toy jacks, are 15 feet high and 43 tons each, with two eight-sided arms and an eight- sided connecting beam. This unique assemblage of rocks is the only design ever to hold up under the constant pounding of the heavy seas, and Huell not only walks out on the jetty for a close-up look, but is taken out to sea by the U.S. Coast Guard for an exciting view from the ocean side.

Huell's final destination is the most unusual because he ends up in the Mojave Desert -- far from any water, fresh or salt -- and what he finds on the desert floor are rocks that you'd never even notice under normal circumstances, but were once under water and, in fact, have a rich human story to tell.

Support Provided By
Season
Classic Arts Showcase
25:33
Huell tours the Glendale office of Classic Arts Showcase, a free cable TV arts program.
Whistling Champ
25:55
Huell visits with the Whistling Champ Carole Anne Kaufman at her salon.
Masumoto Family Farm
28:20
Huell travels to Central California to visit the 80 acre Masumoto Family Farm.
Capitol Steps
28:32
Huell goes straight to the top: California’s Capitol Building, a stunning neoclassical gem
Tall Ship Californian
27:03
Huell sails aboard the state’s official tall ship, Californian.
Point Fermin Lighthouse Lens
28:22
Huell tracks down Point Fermin's beautiful glass Fresnel lens.
Glacier
27:07
Join Huell as he hikes high up in the Eastern Sierra to visit the Conness Glacier.
Sea Caves
25:53
Huell travels out to Santa Cruz Island to explore its famous sea caves by kayak.
Persimmons
26:12
Huell spends the day in Granite Bay California learning the ancient art of Hoshigaki.
Gold Rush Medicine
28:19
"Doctors” of the Gold Rush did the best they could to care for California's immigrants.
Oil Islands
27:44
In Long Beach, Calif., there’s a 42-acre collection of oilfield islands.
Warnors Theatre
27:22
The Warnors Theatre, a Fresno landmark that opened in 1928, houses a unique pipe organ.
Active loading indicator