San Fransisco, Day 3
Mar. 23rd, 2011 08:18 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tanarillToday, we drove North across the Golden Gate Bridge to go to the Muir Forest. This is a national forest preserve, which a couple of early environmentalists bought just after the 1849 gold rush started. Developers looked at it hungrily, so in 1908 they gave it to the government. Thus, it has never been harvested and is old growth California Redwood forest.
The plaque on the stone in front of the tree describes the charitable conversationalist efforts of the Kent family, which is why the trees remain for us to study today. Also, a random small child (Id say no more that eight years old) for some scale.
Tiiiiny little trees. We learned that redwoods have strange ways to reproduce. They do, of course, make pinecones, which are round and perhaps an inch in diameter and carry thirty to one hundred tiny seeds each. But they also have root networks which, should the tree become stressed, sprout new baby tree-clones. They pointed out formations known as "family groves," which are vaguely circular stands of tree-clones that sprouted when the original center-ish tree was hurt.
A picture I took from inside of "Cathedral Grove," looking straight up. It is actually full of family groves, and this is only one of them.
A burl on a tree. It looks like a growth, but it is actually tree insurance. The burl is composed of many thousands of seed cells. As long as the tree is alive, they are dormant. If the tree should be killed or fall over, however, they would activate and begin germinating tree clones, using the now-dead parent tree for food.
It was very green and mossy. This is because, as we learned, redwoods grow in and create temperate rain forests. Each tree needs a minimum of five gallons of water each day, which adds up to a lot of water. In the summer when it is drier they rely of the Pacific fog, which collects on their leaves and then . . . drips. That is why these giant trees only grow along the Pacific coast.
Today, though, it rained. The creek in the park, which is one of the few safe sanctuaries for species such as sockeye salmon, was full and rushing. Then is stopped raining for a while, so instead we got dripped on. Then, as we left the park, the sun came out while it was raining on us; someone saw a rainbow, but it wasn't us.
For dinner tonight, we went to La Rose Pistola for dinner. It was not garlicky, but there was pretty good pasta and lemony fish and decadent desserts. Then we took the bus back. This public transportation thing is working out pretty okay.
More adventures in San Fransisco tomorrow.
The plaque on the stone in front of the tree describes the charitable conversationalist efforts of the Kent family, which is why the trees remain for us to study today. Also, a random small child (Id say no more that eight years old) for some scale.
Tiiiiny little trees. We learned that redwoods have strange ways to reproduce. They do, of course, make pinecones, which are round and perhaps an inch in diameter and carry thirty to one hundred tiny seeds each. But they also have root networks which, should the tree become stressed, sprout new baby tree-clones. They pointed out formations known as "family groves," which are vaguely circular stands of tree-clones that sprouted when the original center-ish tree was hurt.
A picture I took from inside of "Cathedral Grove," looking straight up. It is actually full of family groves, and this is only one of them.
A burl on a tree. It looks like a growth, but it is actually tree insurance. The burl is composed of many thousands of seed cells. As long as the tree is alive, they are dormant. If the tree should be killed or fall over, however, they would activate and begin germinating tree clones, using the now-dead parent tree for food.
It was very green and mossy. This is because, as we learned, redwoods grow in and create temperate rain forests. Each tree needs a minimum of five gallons of water each day, which adds up to a lot of water. In the summer when it is drier they rely of the Pacific fog, which collects on their leaves and then . . . drips. That is why these giant trees only grow along the Pacific coast.
Today, though, it rained. The creek in the park, which is one of the few safe sanctuaries for species such as sockeye salmon, was full and rushing. Then is stopped raining for a while, so instead we got dripped on. Then, as we left the park, the sun came out while it was raining on us; someone saw a rainbow, but it wasn't us.
For dinner tonight, we went to La Rose Pistola for dinner. It was not garlicky, but there was pretty good pasta and lemony fish and decadent desserts. Then we took the bus back. This public transportation thing is working out pretty okay.
More adventures in San Fransisco tomorrow.
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no subject
Date: 2011-03-24 02:11 am (UTC)I looked the dinner menu, it looks AMAZE. What did you guys have for an appetizer? The asparagus w/poached egg made me drool.
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Date: 2011-03-24 03:08 am (UTC)We didn't, actually. I had one of the sheep cheeses, because while cow is common and even goat is found in many stores, sheep cheeses are hard to find. The rest of the family had soups or salads. It was all delicious, anyway XD
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Date: 2011-03-24 04:02 am (UTC)