CALIFORNIA

San Francisco from Marin Headlands and The Golden Gate Bridge

I won’t be discussing about how great San Francisco is as a city in this post, I believe the world knows about it and so many have been written already about it. Also, my fellow blogger friend, Jodapoet, beautifully essays her experiences in this worderful city through her blog, My City By the Bay. If you want to experience San Francisco day by day, its culture, its neighborhood, the fun around and within the city, shopping, restaurant reviews, visit Jodapoet’s My City By the Bay blog.

San Francisco from Marin Headlands and The Golden Gate Bridge

Instead, I will be sharing here why I love San Francisco.

1. I love the uphill/downhill roads here. Who needs a gym in San Francisco? Not me! I would only walk around, and it felt like getting into a stairclimber but a lot better. I am not confined in the four corners of the gym’s wall, and I have excellent view of the bay.

Crooked Lombardt Street, not the Crookedest Street in San Francisco

Also, the public commute in San Francisco is really great, why drive when you can be greener?

San Francisco’s Cable Car

2. It is right next to the bay and the ocean!

3. It is close enough to Big Sur

Northern End of Big Sur, about 2 hrs drive South from Francisco

Big Sur Coast @ Nepenthe, about 3 hours drive South of San Francisco

and Point Reyes National Seashore for a day drive,

Point Reyes National Seashore, 30 miles North of San Francisco

Point Reyes National Seashore, 30 miles North of San Francisco

two of my favorite places in California, if not on Earth. Whenever I am in these two places, I feel like, I am outside of California, in a far away land.

McWay Falls @ Big Sur Coast

3. If you like rolling hills countryside, of countless vineyards, San Francisco is just 90 minutes drive from the wine country.

@ Napa Valley

4. Yosemite National Park is just 3.5 hours drive away!

Cooks Meadow, Yosemite National Park

Though I do not recommend just driving through Yosemite like most tourists do, if you want to experience Yosemite, I advise to experience Yosemite by foot,

that is spend some days hiking in its wonderful trails.

Half Dome, Liberty Cap and Nevada Fall from John Muir Trail, Yosemite National Park

You will appreciate Yosemite and nature more when you sleep, hike, bike, raft, take some days just enjoying it. However, if you are more of a city person, then, though again I do not endorse it, but a lot of tourists visiting San Francisco do this, that is, just drive through the park, and take a picture of themselves in the more popular and crowded location.

 5. Even if I do not leave the city in San Francisco, nature still abounds. 

Alcatraz from Embarcadero

Sea Lions @ Pier 39

This is a city where nature is not being walled off in its concrete jungle.

San Francisco from Pier 39

Visting San Francisco? You will love it and will have a time of your life in this great city that can be your gateway to nature! For more of San Francisco, visit Jodapoet’s My City By the Bay blog.

Inspired by Galen Rowell’s Book California the Beautiful, this photography and travel blog hopes to share the diverse beauty that are found in California. From the ocean,

Anacapa Island, Channel Islands National Park, CA

to the mountains,

Kings Canyon National Park, CA

to the desert,

Sand Dunes, Death Valley National Park, CA

California offers a remarkable diversity, a wonderful gift for those who love to marvel in nature’s great works of artistry! California, may be the land of innovation and opportunity,

Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, CA

but its exquisite natural beauty is also a reality that is worth seeing and experiencing. Water, wind, fire,

Bridalveil Falls, Yosemite National Park, CA

ice, tectonic forces, all of these contribute to what is now California!

Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, CA

California is bordered by the Pacific Ocean to the West, Oregon to the North, Nevada and Arizona to the East, and Mexico to the South. It is the 3rd largest state in size, next to Alaska and Texas. If California were a country, by size, it would be 59th largest in the world. Economically, California has the largest gross state product in the US, responsible for 13% of US gross domestic product (GDP). If it were a country, economically, it would have the 9th largest GDP in the world.

The climate of California is often misunderstood, probably linking it only to one particular region. California has a microclimate weather, varying from Mediterranean to Subarctic. Much of the state has Mediterranean weather, with cool, rainy winters and dry summer. The cool ocean breeze often creates summer fog near the coast.

The Greatest Meeting of the Mountains and the Sea, Big Sur, CA

Further inland, California encounters colder winters and hotter summers.

North Lake, Bishop, CA

California’s rugged beauty is due to its tremendous geographical diversity. It has over than 1200 miles of coastline,

McWay Falls, Julia Pffeifer Burns State Park, Big Sur, CA

two of America’s most protected bays, San Francisco

San Francisco Bay

and San Diego.

San Diego Bay

California is home to numerous mountain ranges, such as the Sierra Nevada, Spanish for “Snowy Range”.

Summer at Eastern Sierra, CA

The Sierra contains the highest peak in the contiguous 48 States, Mt. Whitney, which rises to 14, 505 ft.

Mt. Whitney, CA (the highest point in the lower 48 states)

Twist of nature, Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous 48 states, and Badwater in Death Valley, the lowest point in North America and 2nd lowest point in the Western Hemisphere are less than 200 miles from each other.

Badwater, Death Valley National Park, CA (the lowest point in North America and 2nd lowest in Western Hemisphere)

The Sierra Nevada falls to Arctic temperatures in winter, and has several dozen small glaciers still present, including the Palisade Glaciers, the Southernmost glacier in the US.

Palisades Glacier, CA

About 35% of the state is covered by forests, its forestland is exceeded only by that of Alaska. California’s species of pine is unmatched by any other states. California’s Sequoia National Park has several of the largest trees in the world.

Giant Sequoias, Sequoia National Park, CA

California deserts make up about 25% of the state’s area. The Mojave Desert occupies a huge area of Southeastern California.

Joshua Tree @ Joshua Tree National Park, CA (Mojave Desert)

Mojave Desert is a transition between the Great Basin and Sonoran Desert.

Font’s Point, Anza Borrego Desert State Park, CA ( Sonoran Desert).

Whereas along the California coast are three of the major metropolitan areas in the country,

Los Angeles,

San Diego,

and San Francisco.

Come, visit this blog often, as we explore the natural, cultural and historical sites of California, the Golden State.