Finally Presenting...California! (The Lazy Girl's Solution)

Alright, I've been back from California for a couple of weeks now, and haven't bothered posting about my adventures. Forgive me, kind readers, I was far too busy trying to catch up with all my work. And with only 3 weeks or so left of classes, I'm going to remain busy pretty much until the end. So, not being one to break a promise, I decided to post one long/long overdue synopsis of the trip. However I'm also not one who will do extra work when she doesn't have to... which means you are getting the "field journal" version of things, which I had to hand in to my prof. Basically the trip was a huge roadtrip from L.A. to San Francisco, and these excerpts represent some key stops along the way. This post will be long, so feel free to stop reading at any point. You can always come back and read at your leisure! (Deep breath...) here goes!

Impressions of Los Angeles
Nothing could have prepared me for the endless expanse of concrete called L.A. Flying in from St. Louis, all I could do was stare in wonder at urban sprawl at its worst. After today’s tour of the city, the one thing that struck me was the lack of anything natural. The “nature” part of L.A. seems to have been long-since paved over, replaced with swaths of concrete, fake rivers and industrialized or commercialized areas. Even the parts of L.A. that were meant to showcase its natural beauty were either constructed, or were choc-full of introduced or invasive species. The palm trees lining the streets, they symbol of L.A. itself? Non-native. The eucalyptus trees found throughout the park? Introduced. The ice plant and grasses covering the newly-restored wetland? Invasive.



Everywhere you look, pieces of other countries and other cultures are melted together to form the body of L.A. Don’t get me wrong, L.A. in its entirety is an impressive and strangely beautiful place. But for me, coming from a country that has more empty space than full, and where the cities devote large areas to “green space”, it’s just a different kind of beauty.
The other thing that struck me is how the downtowns of any big cities look so similar. The downtown core of L.A. could have been Toronto, minus the C.N. Tower, plus a few palm trees, and substituting Lake Ontario with the Pacific. It almost made me feel a little homesick. The thing that will stick with me the most, however, is the L.A. river. Hardly even a river, in the traditional sense… more of a completely paved canal. Even the more natural areas had paved banks.



In areas, however, the pavement was completely overgrown with both native and invasive vegetation, giving a whole new meeting to the term “concrete jungle”. Ducks and other shore birds gathered here, however, confirming that life will adapt to its surroundings.



Walking on the concrete river bed was a cultural experience all on its own, and it was impressive to look around at all the graffiti and discarded debris, and to look up at the railways, highways and overpasses and realize how many people walked those channels before us, and how many are bound to walk there in the future.




The whole day was one long, exhausting, eye-opening and intensely interesting experience, and I hope that someday I’ll be able to spend more time learning about the natural history of L.A. and seeing what the city has to offer besides palm trees, concrete and celebrity homes.

Impressions of Catalina
After L.A., Catalina was almost a shock with its seemingly pure nature and clear, unpaved waters. The landscape dominated by scrubby bushes and cacti was not at all what I was expecting, but lent to the exotic and faraway feel.



Its relatively empty expanse of land almost made a mockery of the hustle and bustle that is L.A., and dinner neighbours included bison and (if you’re lucky, which we weren’t) the somewhat elusive Catalina island fox, instead of noisy people on cell phones.
Snorkeling in the waters surrounding Catalina was a surreal experience in itself. After spending my life swimming in freshwater lakes or the North Atlantic, the colourful and diverse darting fish were a euphoria for the eyes. The bright orange girabaldis could be seen peeking through the kelp, the small electric rays lay silently buried in the sand, only to dart away when disturbed by the kick of a flipper, and the schooling fish swirled around in circles, catching the light and shooting it back in a million different directions. I hovered above a guitar fish who sat completely still and tried to blend with his surroundings. I watched an octopus the size of my fist walk across the rocks under a sheet of kelp. I slid through schools of small fish who moved like mercury through the water, laughing as they slipped through my fingers.
The wildlife while kayaking offered the same sort of thrill. Looking down through the kelp, the abnormally clear water offered a window through which I could see the same bright-coloured fish I saw while snorkelling. Above me, pelicans, gulls and cormorants glided low, sometimes seeming to skim the waves. A sea lion porpoised alongside our group for a short while, and later a curious seal bobbed between our kayaks, disappearing into the water, only to pop up somewhere else.
Even the purity of Catalina couldn’t be completely untouched, though. We pulled garbage from the waves, ranging from candy wrappers and bits of rope, to an entire bouquet of balloons and an unopened bottle of hand soap (which we later set up in our “kitchen” to take care of our cleansing needs). I guess it just goes to show that even parts of the world that seem relatively unaffected by the world around them can still show evidence of pollution and human negligence.

Rancho Marino
Even though we didn’t spend much time in Rancho Marino, it was a place I’ll never forget. Tidepooling was such a new experience for me there. In the past, most of the tidepools I’ve encountered were in the North Atlantic, so they offered very little in terms of diversity or colour. These tidopools, on the other hand, were a virtual rainbow of organisms, bright orange sea stars, dark green algae and kelp, neon-green anemones, fluorescent nudibranchs, and colour-changing octopi (2 of which I caught!) Being able to watch the otters playing in the waves, the seals bobbing alongside them, and mistaking the giant bull kelp bulbs as both of them was both amusing and distracting. Watching the giant orange globe of the sun sinking into the Pacific was a beautiful end to the day. Watching two pods of dolphins (bottlenose and what I assume were common dolphins) swim by as I drank my morning coffee on a cliff was an even better start to the next one. Rancho Marino is a place that I could be quite happy waking up to on a daily basis…

Hopkins Marine Station
Seeing Hopkins Marine Station makes me wish that I had looked into studying there. Not only is Monterey Bay beautiful, the facilities at Hopkins looked incredible, and the tidepools and wildlife just outside the door offered the perfect place to learn about west coast inter-tidal communities. The seals, sea lions and sea otters were fun to watch as well, as we clambered across algae-covered rocks.




It was also interesting to hear about some of the research going on there. I’ve read a bit about bluefin tunas, but it was really fascinating to learn more about how far they migrate and conservation issues they’re facing. I would have loved to spend more than just a couple hours there, but the short time we stayed was well worth it.

San Francisco – The California Academy of Sciences
I’m kind of at a loss about what to say about the Cal Academy, because I know all my words would fall short. Simply saying that this building is amazing is an understatement. I could try to describe the incredible architecture, but my words would sound flat, and the Academy is anything but. The sheer volume of their collection makes describing any part of it nearly impossible. I’ll just say that it is by far the most incredible museum I’ve ever visited, and getting the chance to see behind the scenes and handle specimens that famous ecologists collected was an experience I’ll never forget. I’m a firm believer in the saying “a picture’s worth a thousand words,” and in this case I’m going to shut up and let my pictures do all the talking.







Looking Back on the Trip
This trip was jam-packed, and exhausting, and the best possible way to see California. I know that if I had gone on my own, I would have never done as much nor seen as much as I did over this past week. Already people are asking me what my favourite part of the trip was, and I’d be hard pressed to pick just one moment or activity. Snorkelling and kayaking were definitely up there. Seeing the octopus “walking” underwater was incredible, especially since the only octopus I’ve ever seen was in a tank. Catching the two baby octopi at Rancho Marino (and not getting bitten!) was insane, and I’ll probably never forget the way their tentacles felt wrapping around my fingers. The Big Sur coast was beautiful, the redwoods were beyond impressive, and the Cal Academy was mind-blowing. I learned more during this one week than I would have spending months in a classroom, and the people we met along the way couldn’t have been better teachers. I loved our time getting to know California, the issues pertaining to the Pacific coast, and each other. I really couldn’t have asked for a better fall break.

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Phew, that was long. And the writing is not so great... kind of lame, but that's what forced travel journals will do to a girl! So I hope you enjoyed it... more pics and *hopefully* a couple of videos will be coming later (although I haven't actually had a chance to check the videos yet to see how they turned out... however if they worked properly, I've got a stellar one of the sunset at Rancho Marino coming up!)

Anyways, I just want to remind you all that I love comments, (which nobody seems to love posting), and I'm curious to see who's actually reading... leave me a message and let me know who you are, my dear readers!

Tis all for now...