Trip Segement Details 1. The town, however, is at or near the junction of several roads, which gives it some commerical importance. They often seem 'too big' for the streams that flow in them - particularly in low flow periods in summer. Weathering and mass wasting on the valley sides brings lots of colluvium into the valley, maintaining a flat surface and often giving a fertile soil. Agriculture can flourish in these sheltered valleys.
Trees grow on the relatively thin soils of the valley sides.
Many of the small town started around a small industry, usually a saw mill. These have now been replaced by more modern industries - provided town has managed to attract them. In many ways these are isolated places, as the next poriton of the trip emphasises, so that isolated industrial plants rather than a major industrial complex, would be expected. Several streams flow down from the hills and join near Andrews, but again it is the underlying rock structure which has a major role in creating this landscape. In addition the road climbs steeply upwards.