The Sutter Buttes are an isolated cluster of small mountains that seem to have floated up throught the valley floor near Yuba City, California.  This peculiar mini-mountain range is all that remains  of an extinct volcano that erupted about a million and a half years ago.  The formation is circular, about 10 miles in diameter.

Sutter Buttes as seen in the early morning from Highway 20

The Buttes, called Esto Yamani (The Middle Mountain) by the Maidu people, are 50 miles from Lake of the Pines and make for a spectacular day trip.   It is private land, but there are many hikes of different kinds, lengths, and levels of difficulty that you can arrange through the Middle Mountain Foundation.  Get on their email list.

Bob, CJ, and Luke at the Buttes