Off topic - USA west coast pictures

[HwitVlf]

These are from my camping trip to the East side of the Sierra Mountain range. The whole area is high altitude (7,000-11,000 ft).
<WARNING- LEARNING INFORMATION ALERT!!> Near the top of the range is standard alpine climate (snow resistant evergreens and smaller broad-leaf plants that go dormant in the winter) but a short distance Eastward from the Sierras, it quickly turns into some of the driest desert in America (Nevada). That's because as the humid warm coastal air blows inland and up the west side of the Sierras. It quickly cools in the high elevation and cold air can't hold as much moisture as warm air, so it rains/snows all its moisture out on top of the Sierras. The air then proceeds down the East side of the mountains, and re-warms at lower elevations. The warm air then sucks up every drop of moisture it encounters which turns Nevada into a dry wasteland suitable only for gambling casinos and prostitution. That's why Chapstick sells so well in Nevada- ha! <WE NOW RETURN YOU TO YOUR REGULARLY SCHEDULED BRAINLESS ACTIVITY>. ‎ 


A glacier near the top of the Sierras above the timberline (even pine trees can't tolerate the climate). You can see the rockslide that happened while I was there. ‎ 



Sierra's eastern slope- the desert begins. The trees on the left are only there because a snow-melt river flows down this canyon. The rest of the greenery is mostly drought resistant scrub brush.



Wild roses (Rosa Califonicum) grow in abundance along the river. All roses looked like these originally and common domestic roses are mutants. If anyone has heard of the English 'War of the Roses', it was so called because the two royal families fighting for the English throne (Lancaster and York) both had roses like this in their coat of arms. <hunchback>'Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York'</hunchback> (Shakespearian wit...less).



A beaver dam on a channel of the river. They build dams so they'll have a pool of calm water to inhabit. ‎ 



East of the Sierras, there's generally not enough water to support trees.



The whole area is volcanic (eruptions as short as 800 years ago) so there's a lot of obsidian glass (blackish in picture) and pumice stone in the soil. The black glass rock gets amazingly hot.