If you go to San Francisco...be sure to wear flowers in your hair    .......enjoy!

San Francisco (Be Sure to Wear Flowers in Your Hair)" is a song, written by John Phillips of The Mamas & the Papas, and sung by Scott McKenzie. It was written and released in June 1967 to promote the Monterey Pop Festival. This video is a real visual of the times. Some nice shots of Jimi Hendricks, Mama Cass and Janis Joplin. (all died too young)           Peace-Love and rock and roll!

• Really cool information about the Monterey Pop festival for those like me who love this era of music!

When we left Yosemite National Park, we traveled west across the state of California. Our destination for the day, San Francisco. My motivation for including this place in my trip was actually my curiosity of The Rock, also know as Alcatraz. My plan was to take my boys on a tour of Alcatraz. Being the tourist that I am NOT...I didn't consider that the tours might be booked up for a month ahead. 
So...plan B was to take the Bay Cruise. It didn't take us to Alcatraz but it took us all around the bay and very closely circled Alcatraz. On the boat, we each got a pair of headphones to listen to the audio tour as the boat cruised around the bay. The audio tour was full of interesting information about San Francisco and the surrounding bay area.
I learned that much of San Francisco was once covered with high sand dunes covered by dune scrubs. Dune scrubs are coastal scrubs that cover areas with thick vegetation and wildflowers.  

The sandy soil has very little moisture and nutrients and is subject to high winds and salty air. The plants have water conserving adaptations such as small leaves, hairy leaves, waxy or oily leaves, and deep root systems. The beach-dune ecosystem is one of the most sensitive and declining habitat types on the West Coast. 

Snowy Plover

Brown Pelican

Human threats to the beach-dune ecosystem include chemical runoff, litter and pollution, disturbance and habitat loss. Some species like the Snowy Plover, 
Brown Pelican 
and the San Francisco Lessingia are on the federal Endangered                                                                Species List. 

Lessingia

In the 1850's, hydraulic mining released massive amounts of sediment from the rivers that settled in parts of the bay that had little or no current. Later, wetlands and inlets were deliberately filled in, reducing the Bay's size. Despite its value as a waterway and harbor, thousands of acres of wetlands at the edges of the bay were considered wasted space. As a result, soil excavated for building projects or dredged from channels was often dumped onto the wetlands and other parts of the bay as landfill. The bay was also filled with abandoned buried ships from the gold rush days and all of the wreckage from the Great San Francisco Earthquake of 1906. They literally pushed it into the bay to fill it in. The Great San Francisco Earthquake was a 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed 3000 people and destroyed 80% of San Francisco. This is the same quake I eluded to in my San Andreas Fault blog.
There are many islands around the bay including a notorious one called, Alcatraz. The island initially housed military personnel. It also held prisoners during the civil war. After the 1906 earthquake, some prisoners were moved there for safe keeping. During World War 1 it housed "conscientious objectors." These were people who refused to be part of a war based on thoughts, conscience or religion. Alcatraz also housed some of America’s most difficult and dangerous felons from 1934 to 1963.  Some of those who served time there were the gangster Al Capone and murderer Robert “Birdman of Alcatraz” Stroud  Starting in 1969 the island was occupied by a group of native american activists . They claimed Alcatraz was theirs “by right of discovery,” but offered to buy it for “$24 in glass beads and red cloth”—the same price that Indians supposedly received for the island of Manhattan. The activists added that they didn’t mind that the island was underdeveloped or lacked fresh water, since most of them had already endured similar conditions on government Indian reservations. Other activists supported the occupation by shuttling supplies. Canned goods, clothes and thousands of dollars in cash had poured in from donors across the country. Celebrities visited the island and lent their support, and the rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival even gave the Indians a boat, which was christened the “Clearwater.”
Alcatraz opened as a national park in 1973, and today visitors can still see the Native Americans occupiers’ graffiti on several of the buildings. The National Park Service even had some of the slogans preserved or repainted when they restored the island’s water tower. The Rock continued to serve as a focal point of Native American social campaigns. A pair of nationwide protest walks in 1978 and 1994 both began at the island, and since 1975, people have met at Alcatraz every November for an “Un-Thanksgiving Day” celebrating Indian culture and activism. 

I was excited to visit Pier 39 in hopes of seeing the famous sea lions that frequent the piers there. There were only 3 sea lions there but they were enjoyable to watch. From late July (we were there a few weeks too early) to mid May,  there are typically hundreds of sea lions hanging out on the piers. In June and July most of the sea lions go south to breed on the Channel Islands. The Channel Islands of California are a chain of eight islands located off the coast of Southern California along the Santa Barbara Channel. 

The sea lions have chosen PIER 39's dock to "haul out" on because there is plenty of food nearby in the bay and the ocean. Also, their natural predators, the White Sharks and Orcas don't feed in the bay. Hauling out means to leave the water for a period of time.  The docks are easier to lay on than the rocks. As the tide goes in and out, the floating docks move up and down on the water. The sea lions just keep sleeping instead of having to move up and down the rocks with the tide. 
A few California sea lions began “hauling out” on PIER 39 shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake hit San Francisco in October 1989. By January 1990, they started to arrive in droves and completely took over the dock, much to the dismay of PIER 39′s paying tenants.
The marina tenants were eventually moved to different docks to accommodate the sea lions. Yay!  They have come to the dock ever since and have become a huge tourist attraction.


Original Good Morning America report on the invasion of the sea lions


Driving the elevated streets of San Francisco was at times, alarming, as we got stuck at a red light while sitting at a 25 to 30%grade incline. I felt like the car was standing on its backside. The only thing I saw out the windshield was the sky. 

                                                     

San Francisco is an energetic and crowded city. Too energetic and crowded for me though. I was glad to cross the big bridge and begin our travel north. The most exciting and most anticipated part of my adventure was yet to to come.  

Here is something else special about the San Francisco area. Within the Golden Gate Recreational area is 240 acres of Old Growth Redwood Forests. It is called "Muir Woods."

Before the logging industry came to California, there were around 2 million acres of old growth forest containing redwoods growing in a narrow strip along the coast.

By the early 20th century, most of these forests had been cut down. Just north of the San Francisco Bay, one valley named Redwood Canyon remained uncut due to its inaccessibility.

A U.S. Congressman from California named William Kent learned about the valley. He and his wife purchased 611 acres of land from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company for $45,000 with the goal of protecting the redwoods and the mountain above them.

In 1907, a water company in Sausalito planned to dam Redwood Creek, thereby flooding the valley. When Kent objected to the plan, the water company threatened to use eminent domain and took him to court to attempt to force the project to move ahead. Eminent domain is is the power of a state or a national government to take private property for public use. Kent sidestepped the water company's plot by donating 295 acres  of the redwood forest to the federal government, thus bypassing the local courts. One year later, President Roosevelt declared the area a national monument. It was named after the naturalist, John Muir.

a warning sign by Alcatraz

this indicates an area under the water where some type of restoration is going on.

Alcatraz

Listening to the audio tour

Thick Fog over the bridge and along the coast

Eucalyptus Trees

Spotted Owl call

Barred Owl call

Northern spotted owls are medium sized brown owls characterized by a dark brown face with small white spots. They have circles of dark brown around each dark brown eye. They have a yellowish green bill and their legs and feet are fully feathered.

The northern spotted owl was listed as a threatened species in northern California, Oregon and Washington by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service in 1990 citing loss of old-growth habitat as the primary threat. 
Old Growth Forests are forests that have attained great age without significant disturbance and therefore has unique ecological features.  These forests have  a complex structure characterized by large(an understatement!), live and dead trees, distinctive habitats and a diverse group of plants, fungi, and animals. 
Logging in national forests containing the northern spotted owl was stopped by court order in 1991. I cant believe the logging in these ancient forests continued 21 years after the first Earth Day was celebrated.

The 1991 court order pitted loggers and small sawmill owners against environmentalists. One study conducted at the University of Wisconsin–Madison(Yay for UWM) by environmental scientists argued that logging jobs had been in a long decline and that environmental protection was not a significant factor in job loss.

The logging industry, in response to  bad publicity, started the Sustainable Forestry Initiative. The industry claims to promote sustainable forestry management, improved forestry practices and responsible purchasing of forest products. 
 Environmentalists view the Spotted Owl as an "indicator species," a kind of  "canary in a coal mine" whose preservation has created protection for an entire threatened ecosystem.(Old Growth Forests)  The "canary in the coal mine" originated in early coal mines that did not have ventilation systems. Legend has it that miners would bring a caged canary into the mines. Canaries are especially sensitive to methane and carbon monoxide, which made them ideal for detecting any dangerous gas build-ups. As long as the bird kept singing, the miners knew their air supply was safe. A dead canary signaled an immediate evacuation.

One group used as an indicator species today are amphibians, which includes frogs, toads and salamanders. Their skin is porous and absorbs gases and liquids so amphibians at all stages are sensitive to changes in the environment, especially pollution that may be in the atmosphere, water or soil.

Protection of the Northern Spotted Owl, under both the Endangered Species Act and the National Forest Management Act, has led to significant changes in forest practices in the northwest. The purpose of the ESA is to protect species in jeopardy and the ecosystems they depend on. The purpose of the National Forest Management Act is to have the forest service use a systematic and multi-faceted approach to resource management. In other words, the forest service had to begin using sustainable methods when working within our countries forests.  It also provided for public involvement in preparing and revising forest plans. President Clinton's Northwest Forest Plan of 1994 was designed primarily to protect owls and other species dependent on old-growth forests while ensuring a certain amount of timber harvest. 
In 2004 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reaffirmed that the Spotted Owl remained threatened, but the recognized cause of endangerment had changed. Spotted Owls are now threatened by the invasion of barred owls into their range and habitat. Since the 1960's, Barred Owls have been expanding their range westward from the eastern United States. When Spotted Owls and Barred Owls share the same environment, the Barred Owls are more aggressive and out-compete the Spotted Owl. They are owl bullies. They have also been known to interbreed, creating hybrids that will threaten the species. ("sparred owl" or "botted owl").
My interest in the plight of the Spotted Owl started years ago when I discovered a fascinating book that I read a book to my second graders every year titled, "There is an Owl in the Shower". 
In a nutshell, the father in the story is a "cutter" and loses his job when the government orders logging to stop in order to save the Spotted Owl. He is very angry and blames the owls and the people in town that he terms, "owl lovers". His young son takes on his anger and rides to the forest each day to shoot owls. During a storm, an owlet falls at his feet and he takes it home. That is when the adventure begins. The owlet is a Spotted Owl but they don't realize it because juvenile Spotted Owls don't have spots. The story covers so many topics that it takes us almost the entire school year to get through it.
The town in the book is fictional but it could have been any one of the small towns that are within bicycle riding distance from the magical ancient forests that I walked through.  It was so exciting for me to put myself in that place. I cannot wait to read the book this school year!
Unfortunately, despite my owling calls,  I was not able to see one of these beautiful owls in its habitat, although one did fly in front of our windshield as we were driving through the forest at night.
Court battles are still ensuing over the logging of these beautiful forests and the future of the Northern Spotted Owl. After being in these forests, I cannot believe that anyone would take a chainsaw to these trees. It boggles my mind that trees deemed "ancient" wouldn't be protected at all costs.

 I love, love, love this definition of a wilderness. It comes from the "Wilderness Act" signed into law in 1964.

“A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain."


Click here to learn more about this initiative and the labels to look for when shopping for wood or wood products: Sustainable Initiative labels 


F.Y.I.      Old Growth Forests in Wisconsin...

Wisconsin	Apostle Islands National Lakeshore[	1,500 acres
Wisconsin	Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest
Wisconsin	Namekagon Barrens	4,000 acres

sea otters.MOV

I stood among giant trees and I felt small,
I stood in the valleys of vast mountain ranges and I felt small,
I stood in the ocean waves and again I felt small...like a grain of sand against the giant ancient rocks
On this Earth, we are all small....we are nothing at all.....but guests for a short stay.

One of the most anticipated parts of my west coast adventure was the experience of tide pooling. The Pacific coastal shorelines of northern California and Oregon are so different from the Atlantic coastal shorelines of Florida, the other place where I have walked in Ocean waves. You see,  this part of the Pacific Ocean has rocks..big ones, small ones, tall ones, short ones, jagged ones and flat ones. As the wielding waves crash against these rocks they deposit the creatures that have hitched a ride on the surf.  There are also permanent residents affixed to the rocks depending on the intertidal zone.
The splash zone is the area above the high tide water line and mainly depends on sea spray and mist for water coverage. The characteristic species of the splash zone are the little acorn barnacles, sea lettuce and the periwinkle snail. 

The high zone is the area that is covered by most high tides. It is inhabited by the larger acorn barnacle, limpets, chiton and rock weed.

The mid zone is characterized by the seastar, the mussel and the gooseneck barnacle.
We climbed over and in between many rocks but unfortunately were never able to find a sea star. They were on my priority list of things to find so they will help mold the purpose for me to go back.



The low tide zone is mixed with organisms that can be found in both the high zone and the mid zone habitats and has large fleshy brown algae. Several algae species are common such as the feather boa and the sea palm. The low zone provides more food, shelter and protection and is therefore inhabited by a greater number of species.

On one of the beaches we explored, I began watching some children who were climbing on the rocks. I watched as they climbed over the barnacles, the sea lettuce and the mussels. I thought about reminding the children that the rocks were inhabited by living creatures but I did not. I watched as they carefully voyaged their way pointing out their discoveries to each other. The experience was spiritual for me. I learned from watching them.  I wished I could take my second graders to a place as magical as this beach. 

It was then that I remembered the trips I used to take my students on when I taught second graders in Milwaukee. Each year we took them to Doctors Park along Lake Michigan. This is where an owl flew out from under the bridge right in front of us as we walked the long wooded trail to the beach. This is where my students picked beautiful rocks out of the water and jumped over the incoming waves.

Bodies of water... whether they are oceans, rivers, lakes, streams, ponds or puddles are wonders of nature. Water is the life blood of all living things. Take your shoes off...put your feet in.

I will return to this place.