Today I did some digging (the Internet search kind of digging) to try to learn the geologic history of the area where I rode my bike yesterday through Torrey Pines State Reserve between La Jolla and Del Mar.  I was particularly interested in discovering the compositions and the geologic ages of layers of rock and sediment that were exposed when the road bed was cut to make what we now call Torrey Pines Grade. The layer of rocks is identical to a layer of rocks partway up the hillside where I live in the Linda Vista district of San Diego above Mission Valley. I learned that a geologic formation called Lindavista Formation dates a million years ago to the middle of the Pleistocene period. I’ve also learned that the Lindavista Formation extends from the Del Mar area in California to Ensenada, Mexico.The Lindavista Formation was laid down on Delmar Formation and Torrey Sandstone which are both middle Eocene (48,000,000 years old).

Torrey pines (Pinus torreyana), America’s rarest pine trees, are found in only two places on earth, the area just north of La Jolla and Santa Rosa Island off the coast of Santa Barbara. 

In my Internet search I found information about a San Diego based ‘institute’ for Creation ‘Research’ managed by a church-related group called “Young-Earth creationists.”  They take students from their school on field trips to the Torrey Pines area and tell them that all of the formations there were laid down within the last 6,000-10,000 years.  Anybody interested in what the creationists are trying to persuade young people to believe about the age of the earth and everything else can go to the following WEB site:

http://www.noanswersingenesis.org.au/yec_fieldtrip_henke.htm

I was especially puzzled by the rounded darker "spots" in hardened lighter sediment.  I learned that  they are fossilized logs from a long, long ago time.  I'm determined to learn more about those spots when I make another visit to the Torrey Pines Reserve.