Lone Pine Canyon, I’ve heard it said, is a young canyon formed by the San Andreas Fault.  Here, looking eastward,  we can see how straight the canyon is. It hasn’t had time to form the meanders and side canyons that it would have if were much older.

On the right side of this picture in the Pacific plate. On the left, the North American plate. Slowly, these two tectonic entities grind together ultimately forming our mountain ranges in their slow swirl.