标签加利福尼亚下的文章

卡里佐平原国家纪念区的野花，加利福尼亚 Wildflowers in the Carrizo Plain National Monument, California (© Dennis Frates/Alamy)

Nothing plain about it

The Carrizo Plain National Monument is a unique attraction in California—not just because of its breathtaking, colorful views, but also due to its quiet, isolated feel. Just a few hours from Los Angeles, it covers almost 250,000 acres along the base of the Temblor Mountains, giving visitors a chance to escape the crowds and experience nature. In spring, wildflowers cover the hills and valley floor, creating the amazing scene pictured here. The area also features other diverse plant species, including several listed as threatened or endangered. Wildlife includes antelope and elk, as well as rare species such as the San Joaquin kit fox, the blunt-nosed leopard lizard, and the giant kangaroo rat.

这件事没什么明显的

卡里佐平原国家纪念碑是加利福尼亚独特的景点，不仅因为它令人叹为观止、景色丰富，而且由于它安静、孤立的感觉。距离洛杉矶仅几个小时，它就覆盖了近25万英亩的TEMBLOL山脉，让游客有机会逃离人群，体验大自然。春天，山间和山谷的地面上都是野花，创造了这里的惊艳景象。该地区还拥有其他多样的植物物种，包括被列为濒危或濒危植物的几种。野生动物包括羚羊和麋鹿，以及稀有物种，如圣约金基特狐狸、钝鼻豹蜥和巨大袋鼠。

圣何塞附近的代阿布洛岭山麓，加利福尼亚 Foothills of the Diablo Range near San Jose, California (© Jeff Lewis/Tandem Stills + Motion)

Spring comes to the Diablo foothills

Spring rains carpet the rolling foothills of Northern California's Diablo Range in emerald green this time of year. Just past the sprawling suburbs of the East Bay region, the Diablo foothills become a sylvan playground for horseback riding, hiking, bicycling, and simply escaping into nature. Grasslands and oak savannahs cover the low ridges that gradually rise into the higher peaks of the range, and at the crests of the foothills, a visitor is granted panoramic views of the ridgeline to the east. Aside from the green grasses, springtime brings a profusion of wildflowers to the area, including poppies, daffodils, and lupine. It's also nesting season for the many birds of the region, like the peregrine falcons that build nests high in the vertical rock formations here known as Castle Rock.

春天来到迪亚布洛山脚下

每年的这个时候，春雨把北加州暗黑山脉的起伏山脚下铺上绿宝石。刚刚经过东湾地区广阔的郊区，Diablo山脚下变成了骑马、徒步旅行、骑自行车和逃入大自然的西尔万游乐场。草原和橡树大草原覆盖了逐渐上升到山脉较高山峰的低山脊，在山脚下的山峰上，游客可以欣赏到东边山脊线的全景。除了绿草，春天还给该地区带来了大量的野花，包括罂粟、水仙花和卢平。这里也是该地区许多鸟类筑巢的季节，就像在被称为城堡岩的垂直岩层中筑巢的猎鹰一样。

暴风雪散去，加利福尼亚优胜美地国家公园 Clearing snowstorm, Yosemite National Park, California (© Jeff Lewis/Tandem Stills + Motion)

Ansel Adams' enduring vision

Of all the camera-wielding luminaries who've snapped this eastward view of Yosemite Valley, few can hold a 'candela' to Ansel Adams, born this day in 1902. The legendary photographer of Western landscapes was given his first camera here in Yosemite as a boy. The national park was his favorite place in the world, and he returned every year for the rest of his life.

Adams' style is one of the most recognizable in photography: Bright whites against deep blacks, with high horizon lines that leave most of the frame filled with landscape, a narrow lens aperture placing every tiny detail in biting focus. Unlike many photographers of the day who considered themselves more journalist than artist, Adams was a visionary: Instead of plainly documenting what he saw, Adams aimed to convey the enchantment, awe, and terror his beloved landscapes made him feel, spending hours in the darkroom fine-tuning exposures to match what he visualized. 'Clearing Winter Storm'—the photo that today's image pays tribute to—was taken around 1937, depicting ominous clouds gathering around El Capitan and Bridalveil Fall, whiting out the distant peak of Half Dome.

While Adams had to lug bulky box cameras and light meters into the wilderness to capture his vision, chances are you've got the whole setup in your pocket. Why not grab that phone of yours, venture outside, and celebrate this legendary shutterbug's birthday with some masterful nature snaps of your own?

安塞尔·亚当斯的不朽愿景

在所有手持相机拍摄到约塞米蒂山谷东面景色的名人中，很少有人能为1902年出生的安塞尔·亚当斯（Ansel Adams）奉上“烛台”。这位西方风景的传奇摄影师小时候在约塞米蒂得到了他的第一台相机。国家公园是他在世界上最喜欢的地方，他余生每年都会回来。

亚当斯的风格是摄影界公认的最具代表性的风格之一：明亮的白色与深黑的对比，高水平的线条让大部分画面充满了风景，狭窄的镜头光圈将每一个微小的细节都置于扣人心弦的焦点。与当时许多认为自己更像记者而不是艺术家的摄影师不同，亚当斯是一个有远见的人：他没有简单地记录他所看到的一切，而是致力于传达他所钟爱的风景带给他的魅力、敬畏和恐惧，他花了数小时在暗室微调曝光，以符合他所想象的《清冬风暴》（Clearing Winter Storm）——这张今天的照片是在1937年左右拍摄的，描绘了不祥的云层聚集在埃尔卡皮坦（El Capitan）和布里达尔维尔瀑布（Bridalveil Fall）周围，使远处的半圆顶峰黯然失色。

虽然亚当斯不得不拖着笨重的盒式摄像机和测光表到荒野中捕捉他的视野，但你很可能已经把整个设置都放在口袋里了。为什么不拿起你的手机，到外面去冒险，用你自己掌握的自然快照来庆祝这个传奇的shutterbug的生日呢？

巨浪冲击着阿斯洛玛尔州立海滩的岩石，加利福尼亚州帕西菲克格罗夫 Huge waves crashing on rocks along Asilomar State Beach, Pacific Grove, California (© Sheila Haddad/Danita Delimont)

Feel the spray in Monterey

Fantasizing about warm, sandy beaches with gently lapping waves? Well, we decided you could use a shake-up—so here we are in Monterey County, California, for a glimpse at the ocean's raw, unadulterated power. Asilomar State Beach's mile-long coastline trail offers views like this one of seas crashing on jagged shores. Below the frothy surface swim innumerable ocean organisms protected by the massive Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary, the largest marine preserve in the contiguous United States. Behind us, a rich dune habitat supporting its own delicate flora and fauna can be explored via a boardwalk trail.

Andy Goldsworthy's 'Wood Line' installation along Lovers' Lane in the Presidio of San Francisco, California (© Chris LaBasco/Alamy)

Take a hike near Lovers' Lane

For those of you who love getting outside, you're in luck! Today is Take a Hike Day, an activity the American Hiking Society says will make you happier as you enjoy the great outdoors. And what better way to take a hike than a walk down Lovers' Lane in San Francisco's Presidio? The sinewy trail we see in today's photo is called 'Wood Line' and was designed by the environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. By using felled eucalyptus trees, Goldsworthy intended this land art to eventually biodegrade and fade back into the forest floor. It's one of four of his works within this national park that once served as a US military outpost.

No matter where you are, we hope you'll find the closest trail to explore. The US National Trail System maintains more than 55,000 miles of National Scenic, Historic, or Recreational trails through some of the most beautiful, interesting parts of the country, so you have plenty of hikes to choose from.

死亡谷国家公园跑道湖的迷踪石，加利福尼亚 Sailing stone at Racetrack Playa in Death Valley National Park, California (© Patrick Walsh/Getty Images)

Rocks on the move

No, that stone in today's homepage image didn't get there by itself. Or, did it? Not only is Death Valley one of the hottest places on Earth, it also boasts a mysterious geologic phenomenon—rocks that drift across the exceptionally flat desert floor, seemingly under their own power. The rocks here at Death Valley's Racetrack Playa are known as 'sailing stones' and they can vary in size from a few ounces to hundreds of pounds. As seen in our image, the stones leave long trails behind them as they move across the scenic dry lakebed.

Since the stone trails were first observed in the early 1900s, no one knew just how the stones managed to have apparently 'sailed' across Racetrack Playa without someone to push them along. Because they'd never been seen moving, the sailing stones gave rise to many wild theories to explain their mobility. Then, in 2014, scientists captured the movement of the stones for the first time using time-lapse photography, and the mystery was finally solved: The stones move only with the perfect balance of melting ice, water, and wind. One day that winter of 2014, rain had formed a shallow pond that froze overnight. When it thawed in the next day's sun, the very thin ice sheet melted and cracked into floating panels. Driven by a light wind, these sheets accumulated behind the stones, and very slowly pushed them forward.

A peek at an explosive peak

We're looking at Lassen Peak, a volcano also known as Mount Lassen, and its reflection in Manzanita Lake. This stunning scene can be found in northern California's Lassen Volcanic National Park, which was established on this day in 1916. The volcano erupted between 1914 and 1917 (with some activity as late as 1921), but these days the surrounding area is a calm destination of trails, lakes, and stark lava beds. One of the least visited parks, Lassen was the first national park in California to fully reopen after being closed for COVID-19, although it implemented some restrictions to park services and facilities. The park also includes acres of mud pots, hot springs, steam vents, and fumaroles to remind you of the heat that's below you, including Boiling Springs Lake—one of the largest boiling lakes in the world at over 500 feet wide.

National Parks Week begins

To kick off National Park Week, which starts today, we're turning our lens on Vernal Fall in California's Yosemite National Park. This time of year, the waterfall flows in a torrent, but by late summer it can be reduced to a trickle of small streams slipping over the edge. Most years, Vernal Fall is at full power by May, as the spring thaw in the mountains melts the snowpack, turning the falls into a raging tumble of water spilling to the valley floor where the Merced River flows.

Gray days ahead in Monterey

Grey whale migration is a rare scenery, thousands of gray whales, many with calves in tow, swim by this part of the Pacific coast as they migrate from the warm waters of Baja California to their summer feeding grounds in the Bering Sea. Come winter, they pass by again on the swim south. The entire roundtrip route clocks in at about 12,000 miles, making gray whales among the longest migrators of animal kingdom. Because they travel close to the coastline, it's also one of the few whale migrations you can see from shore.

Heron lies the Salton Sea

Migratory bird species are predictable frequent fliers, taking to the sky to travel along roughly the same route, at the same time, every year. Following sources of food and water along the way, the birds often fly great distances to reach breeding grounds or places to spend the winter. Today, we're looking at an important stopover for migratory birds—California's largest lake, the Salton Sea.

This shallow saline lake was formed when a dam broke in 1905, causing the Colorado River to flow into a 35-mile-long basin with extensive salt deposits. Now it attracts hundreds of species of birds in what is considered one of the most significant concentrations of bird life in the continental United States. Most of these birds are just passing through, migrating along the north-south route called the Pacific Flyway. They gather here, sometimes in the millions, to feed and regain strength before moving on. Some birds, like the heron pictured in today's photo, may stay here for the season, but most of those who visit in the spring will stay for just a few days before continuing their journey to a summer spot farther north.

星空迷