Chocolate Falls or Grand Falls.

Chocolate Mountains of California

Chocolate Hills : The green grass turn into a chocolate brown during the dry season

Chocolate Mountains of Arizona

What comes to your mind the moment you see this headline? Perhaps little yummy chocolates or chocolate cakes made in the shape of hills and mountains which you would love to sink your teeth into, and aconfectionery made with a chocolate drink coming out as a waterfall?. However, all your mouth- watering yearnings will no doubt disappear once you look at the pictures because the chocolate hills, falls and mountains here do not remotely resemble any such thing that is edible. What we feature today are actual geographical formations you may be able to see, but not eat, if you ever visit the USA or the Philippines.

There are two places called the Chocolate Mountains in the USA.One is located in the Imperial County and Riverside County in the Colorado Desert in Southern California and the other in the southwestern part of the state east of the Trigo Mountains and southwest of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge in Arizona. Situated about 30 miles apart from each other these two mountain ranges are not connected to one another at all .

The Chocolate Mountains of California stretch more than 100 kilometres (60 miles) in a northwest to southwest direction and form the northeast boundary of the Salton Trough extending as a narrow range some 80 miles (130 km) southeast from the Orocopia Mountains to the Colorado River valley.The area's close proximity to the Colorado River and the Arizona Desert contribute to the presence of wildlife species not commonly found in the California Desert.This mountain range reaches an elevation of 2,475 feet (754 m) at Mount Barrow, and serves as a drainage divide for the Salton Watershed to the west.

Even though they are mountains, very little rainfall is experience here in a normal year, leaving much of the place dry and brown. Typically about 4-6 inches (100 to 150 mm) of rainfall is experience in a year. The mean annual temperature is about 60 degrees Farenheit(16degrees Celsius) to 75 degrees Farenheit (24 degrees Celsius).

The range is composed of Precambrian basement rocks and Orocopia Schist with Mesozoic granite intrusions. The mountain range which is occupied by the Chocolate Mountain Aerial Gunnery Range and is , an aerial and gunnery practice area used by the US Navy and Marines. Unfortunately, a large part of the Chocolate Mountains lie within this gunnery range and are closed to the public. There are two important wilderness areas located at the southeastern end of the Chocolate Mountains range named the Little Picacho Wilderness, and the Indian Pass wilderness.

The Little Picacho Wilderness is a 38,170 acre (154.5 km²) region of dramatic geological features and habitat that comes under the direction of the Bureau of Land Management. The preserve has within its boundaries the southern portion of the Chocolate Mountains. The jutting spires and steep ridges and ravines which gradually broaden into sandy, tree-lined washes and slopes and plains without any vegetation are said to be dramatic in appearance. In fact , the slopes and plains covered with a desert pavement of angular rusty dark orange and brown coloured cobbles stand out against the nearly white bottoms of the washes giving the area its striking topography (physical features of a land area),

The Indian Pass Wilderness Area which is to the north with 32,008 acres (129.53 km2) of open space is a distinctive part of the Chocolate Mountains, Quartz peak is the highest point in the wilderness capped at 2,200 feet (670 m). The Indian Pass Wilderness preserve is located 50 miles (80 km) west of Brawley, California, and is also managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

The other Chocolate Mountains is a mountain summit in La Paz County in the state of Arizona. About 30 miles east of the Chocolate Mountains of California you come across these famous Chocolate Mountains located in the southwestern part of the state east of the Trigo Mountains and southwest of the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. As we explained before, the the two Chocolate Mountain ranges are not connected. The range in Arizona lies in a southwest-northeasterly direction west of Highway 95 on the U.S. Army Yuma Proving Ground. This area is patrolled by the Military Police from Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Arizona.The Chocolate Mountains of Arizona climbs to 1,030 feet (313.94 metres) above sea level.

The Chocolate Hills are another facinating geological formation which is found in Bohol in the Phiippines. Sometimes considered the Eighth wonder of the World, the Chocolate Hills comprise around 1,268 to 1,776 perfectly coned-shaped or dome-shaped mounds which spread over an area of more than 50 kilometres of rolling terrain or haycock hills. They are actually limestone hills covered in grass but as the green grass turn into a chocolate brown during the dry season, resembling " seemingly endless rows of chocolate kisses," these hills have been reffered to as the chocolate hills by everyone. These mounds vary in size from 30 metres to about 50 metres in height with the largest being 120 metres high. .Scattered throughout the towns of Carmen, Batuan and Sagbayan in Bohol, these unique mound-shaped hills are Boho'ls main tourist attraction.In fact, it has been declared the country's third National Geological monument and has been also proposed for inclusion in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

The Chocolate Hills and the area around it have relatively flat to rolling topography with elevation ranges from 100 meters to 500 meters above sea level. There are various theories put forward regarding the formation of these hill with some geologist claiming that they are the result of sub- oceanic volcanismor are simple limestone weathering while others say they have formed due the uplift of the sea floor.

A more recent proposal is that as an ancient active volcano self-destructed, it spewed huge blocks of stone which were then covered with limestone and later thrust forth from the ocean bed .However, according to a bronze plaque at the viewing deck in Bohol, they are eroded formations of a type of marine limestone that sits on top of hardened clay.

The other explanations come from two legends explaining the formation of the Chocolate Hills. The first legend tells the story of two feuding giants who hurled rocks, boulders and sand trying to destroy each other.

This fighting lasted days and exhausted the two giants. In their exhaustion, they forgot about their feud and became friends so that when they left, they forgot to clean up their mess in the battlefield, hence the Chocolate HillsThe much more romantic legend tells of a giant named Arogo who was extremely powerful and youthful. Arogo fell in love with Aloya who was a simple mortal.

Aloya's death caused Arogo so much pain and misery that in his sorrow, he could not stop crying. When his tears dried the Chocolate Hills were formed. Apart from Chocolate Hills there is lso another geological wonder east

of Flagstaff,in Arizona, on a tributary of the Colorado River is the Chocolate Falls or Grand Falls. Located just inside the western edge of the Navajo reservation it is not promoted to tourists and has no signs pointing to the location from the main highway.

The official name is "Grand Falls of the Little Colorado," but it is also called the "Chocolate Falls" because of the colour of the water. This great 'unknown' wonders of Arizona is like a chocolate milk Niagara Falls. When there is rain or snow, the falls are spectacular. Even when there isn't much water, they're still beautiful!So if ever you visit any of these countries try to view these fascinating natural wonders.

Facts and pix: Internet