by Mike Rosso About five miles outside Salida is an unusual rock formation nicknamed “The Golden Towers” or “The Golden Spires.” The composition of the hill containing the bowl in which the Golden Towers sit, and much of the side slopes of the bowl is mostly Volcanic Welded Tuff, broken into small- to medium-sized rocks that make walking in and around the bowl quite unstable. The presence of this welded tuff (volcanic ash compressed into rock) is unique to this hill in this immediate area, which is surrounded by rocks of the lower Paleozoic Era, according to area geologist Bob ...