标签 加利福尼亚 下的文章
优胜美地国家公园中的春季瀑布 Vernal Fall in Yosemite National Park, California (© elvistudio/Shutterstock)
优胜美地国家公园中的春季瀑布 Vernal Fall in Yosemite National Park, California (© elvistudio/Shutterstock)
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.
鸟瞰蒙特雷附近的大苏尔海岸线,加利福尼亚州 Aerial view of the Big Sur coastline near Monterey, California (© Blue Planet Archive/Alamy)
鸟瞰蒙特雷附近的大苏尔海岸线,加利福尼亚州 Aerial view of the Big Sur coastline near Monterey, California (© Blue Planet Archive/Alamy)
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.
一只苍鹭栖息在加利福尼亚索尔顿海的木桩上 A heron perches on a piling at the Salton Sea in California (© Garret Suhrie/Cavan Images)
一只苍鹭栖息在加利福尼亚索尔顿海的木桩上 A heron perches on a piling at the Salton Sea in California (© Garret Suhrie/Cavan Images)
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.
The Hollywood sign overlooking Los Angeles, California (© Sean Pavone/Shutterstock)
The Hollywood sign overlooking Los Angeles, California (© Sean Pavone/Shutterstock)
Hollywood's big night
It's Oscars night in Tinseltown, and we're offering you a moment's escape from the paparazzi to gaze over the glittering megalopolis of Los Angeles—and to get an unfamiliar view of a familiar landmark. The Hollywood Sign originally read 'Hollywoodland' when it was erected in 1923 and festooned with light bulbs to advertise a real estate development. But within a few years, as the silent-film era gave way to 'talkies,' the sign evolved into a popular tourist attraction. Falling into disrepair in ensuing decades—at the peak of its decay, the sign was missing its third 'O' altogether—the original was demolished and a sturdier version built in 1978.
Though it's inspired similar designs advertising locales from Ireland to Taiwan to the fictional Simpsons' hometown of Springfield, the now-permanent Hollywood Sign is cherished by residents as uniquely LA. Today, a dedicated nonprofit maintains and promotes the sign as both a source of Angeleno pride and an emblem of romanticized Hollywood.
一只勃兰特鸬鹚在洛杉矶海岸石油钻塔下的一群太平洋鲭鱼中觅食,加利福尼亚 A Brandt's cormorant hunts for a meal in a school of Pacific mackerel beneath an oil rig off the coast of Los Angeles, California (© Alex Mustard/Minden Pictures)
一只勃兰特鸬鹚在洛杉矶海岸石油钻塔下的一群太平洋鲭鱼中觅食,加利福尼亚 A Brandt's cormorant hunts for a meal in a school of Pacific mackerel beneath an oil rig off the coast of Los Angeles, California (© Alex Mustard/Minden Pictures)
A seabird gets 'schooled'
This deep-diving Brandt's cormorant appears to be on the hunt for a meal, and there's plenty of Pacific mackerel to choose from here off the coast of Los Angeles, California. While seabirds like the cormorant are a threat to these fish, the mackerel aren't exactly defenseless. Fish have many unique means of defense, such as traveling in dense schools like this one. It's a technique that not only allows for speedy travel (because it reduces friction on most of the fish in the school)—schooling also makes it more difficult for predators to pick out an individual victim. For these fish, there's safety in numbers. But when all else fails, they can take some advice from Dory in 'Finding Nemo'—'Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.'
代阿布洛峰州立公园,加利福尼亚 Mount Diablo State Park, California (© Yuval Helfman/Getty Images)
代阿布洛峰州立公园,加利福尼亚 Mount Diablo State Park, California (© Yuval Helfman/Getty Images)
Welcome to California
These are the peaks of Mount Diablo, part of the Diablo mountain range in the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay Area. On a clear day, you can see all the way to the Sierras from here. In fact, this is one of the best viewsheds in the Bay Area, which is a feat, since the peaks are comparatively low for the region. While Mount Diablo may tempt you to take in the scenery or hike in the surrounding state park, the area offers compelling stories from American history as well.
November 4, 1841, marks the day when a group of about 70 people, led by 22-year-old John Bidwell, finally reached the West Coast after setting out from Missouri. This was the first time a wagon train used part of the newly established California Trail to emigrate to California. The trip was grueling, covering more than 2,000 miles. The wagons traveled at a pace of just 15 miles per day, pulled by oxen, horses, or mules. The journey required traversing part of the Oregon Trail and crossing such daunting obstacles as the desert areas around the Great Salt Lake and the steep slopes of the Sierra Nevada mountains. After five months, the wagon train arrived at the ranch of John Marsh near Mount Diablo. The successful journey helped pave the way for expansion to the American West and marked the route for future wagon trains during the California Gold Rush.
半月湾南瓜地鸟瞰图,加利福尼亚 Aerial view of a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay, California (© Tinker Street/Michael O'Neal/Gallery Stock)
半月湾南瓜地鸟瞰图,加利福尼亚 Aerial view of a pumpkin patch in Half Moon Bay, California (© Tinker Street/Michael O'Neal/Gallery Stock)
The height of pumpkin season
If you happen to be in the Bay Area this weekend, you might want to swing by the Half Moon Bay Art & Pumpkin Festival. The annual event displays enormous champion pumpkins weighing over a thousand pounds, hosts live pumpkin carving demonstrations, and offers really every kind of pumpkin-related food you can imagine, from pies to pumpkin flavored artisanal cocktails. Plus, Gourdy, the anthropomorphized pumpkin mascot. While California is the leader in the consumer pumpkin harvest, it is only the second-largest producer in the country. Illinois grows approximately a quarter of the 2 billion pounds of pumpkins the US produces yearly, though 80 percent of that ends up as pie filling or other processed products. Pumpkins require between 90-120 days to mature, so most are planted by late May or early June to coincide with our Halloween carving needs.
While carving vegetables into faces is a tradition in many parts of the world, the carving of jack-o’-lanterns around Halloween originated in Ireland in the mid-19th century, using potatoes or turnips. Irish immigrants brought the tradition to the US around the same time and discovered that the native pumpkins were much easier to carve.
Merced River in Yosemite National Park, California (© Robb Hirsch/Tandem Stills + Motion)
Merced River in Yosemite National Park, California (© Robb Hirsch/Tandem Stills + Motion)
Wild scene on the Merced River
Signed October 2, 1968, by President Lyndon B. Johnson, the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act preserves rivers with 'outstanding natural, cultural, and recreational values in a free-flowing condition for the enjoyment of present and future generations.' It covers 13,416 miles of streams and protects parts of such natural treasures as the Allagash, Salmon, Snake, Concord, Fortymile, Trinity, Missouri (the longest river in the US)—and the Merced River, which we're looking at here.
California's Merced makes its way through canyons, mountains, and foothills, flowing from the Sierra Nevada mountains, through the southern part of Yosemite National Park, into the San Joaquin Valley. Rafters enjoy the Class III and IV rapids, and visitors can camp at several sites along the river's course while also exploring the Merced River Trail.
(美国)中部海岸的葡萄园,加利福尼亚大阿罗约 Central Coast vineyards in Arroyo Grande, California (© Ian Shive/Tandem Motion + Stills)
中部海岸的葡萄园,加利福尼亚大阿罗约 Central Coast vineyards in Arroyo Grande, California (© Ian Shive/Tandem Motion + Stills)
A toast to California!
Today we're celebrating the 169th anniversary of the golden state's admission into the Union with an appropriately golden image of a central coast winery and landscape. In 1850, just 14 months after the peace treaty to end the Mexican-American War ceded California, along with a large portion of western territory, to the US, this former self-proclaimed Republic became the 31st state. California is one of only six states admitted to the Union without first being recognized as a US territory. Some link this to the Gold Rush which began in January 1848 and increased the population by more than 1,000% in that same time frame.
正在巨石间走扁带的人,加利福尼亚毕晓普 Slacklining between giant boulders in Bishop, California (© Evgeny Vasenev/Aurora Photos)
正在巨石间走扁带的人,加利福尼亚毕晓普 Slacklining between giant boulders in Bishop, California (© Evgeny Vasenev/Aurora Photos)
Walk the line
Our homepage today shows two climbers slacklining between boulders near Bishop, California. Look closely and you’ll see something very similar to tight-rope walking: the slackliners anchor a thin strip of webbing between two points and then walk across (very carefully, of course). Bishop is near the Sierra Nevada mountain range and is a popular destination for climbers interested in both slacklining and bouldering. What's bouldering? That's rock climbing without ropes or harnesses. Instead, climbers simply shimmy up rocky crags and free-standing boulders—but no higher than 20 feet, for safety’s sake. And where there are rock climbers, you’ll likely find slackliners.