Heading home bound I recognized this landscape that is familiar to many geologists:
Blackhawk Landslide, Lucerne Valley, CA (Photo - Lisa McShane)
Shreve (1959, http://thesis.library.caltech.edu/691/1/Shreve_rl_1959.pdf and 1968, http://specialpapers.gsapubs.org/content/108/1.short) suggested the slide mechanics that caused the slide of rocks to travel so far was that it was conveyed on a layer of trapped and compressed air. The slide took place 17,000 years ago and Shreve noted that there were other older, similar slides of similar nature that took place in the same area.
I grew up in the mountains just a few miles south of there. We used to go to some remote large sand dunes about 5 miles northeast of geology you're describing. Very cool place that few beyond the "locals" knew about. I love the high desert environment.
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