Santa Cruz Mountains
| Santa Cruz Mountains | |
|---|---|
 Skyline Boulevard runs through the Santa Cruz Mountains, here in the Portola Valley. |
|
| Highest peak | Loma Prieta Peak ( 1148 m ) |
| location | California , USA |
| part of | Pacific Coast Ranges |
| Coordinates | 37 ° 7 ′ N , 121 ° 51 ′ W |
The Santa Cruz Mountains denote a mountain range in central California in the western United States , which runs in a north-south direction between San Francisco and Monterey Bay .
geography
The Santa Cruz Mountains are part of the Pacific Coast Ranges and separating the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco Bay and the Santa Clara Valley . The mountain range runs through the counties of San Francisco , San Mateo , Santa Clara , Santa Cruz , San Benito and Monterey , with San Francisco at the northern end and Salinas at the southern end.
The northernmost part of the Santa Cruz Mountains is known as Montara Mountain , south of Half Moon Bay Road ( California State Route 92 ), the middle part is called Sierra Morena, in which there is also a peak called Sierra Morena , and itself spreads south to a gap at Lexington Reservoir . South of this gap is a mountain pass called the Sierra Azul .
The highest point of the mountain range is Loma Prieta Peak , near which was the epicenter of the Loma Prieta earthquake that occurred in 1989. Other elevations within the mountain range are Mount Umunhum , Mount Bielawski , El Sombroso , Eagle Rock , Black Mountain , and Sierra Morena . The San Andreas Fault runs along or near the ridge line within the train. The eastern side of the range drops off abruptly to this fault line , especially near Woodside and Saratoga .
The State Route 35 runs mostly along the mountain line on the San Francisco Peninsula and is therefore called " Skyline Boulevard known". The main routes along the mountain range are (north to south) SR 92 from Half Moon Bay to San Mateo , SR 84 from San Gregorio to Redwood City , SR 9 from Santa Cruz to Saratoga , SR 17 from Santa Cruz to Los Gatos, SR 152 from Watsonville to Gilroy , SR 129 from Watsonville to San Juan Bautista , and US Highway 101 from Salinas to Gilroy.
geology
The Santa Cruz Mountains are the result of an elevation caused by compressive force from the left bend of the San Andreas Fault. Some notable strata are Lompico Sandstone and Vaqueros Sandstone . Geological units within the Santa Cruz Mountains include the Lompico Formation and the lower-lying Santa Margarita Formation .
ecology
Bobcat in winter in Almaden-Quicksilver Park .
A deer in Ben Lomond, October 2009
The Santa Cruz Mountains are a region of high biodiversity. They include both cold, mostly coastal ecosystems, and warm, dry undergrowth. Much of the area in the Santa Cruz Mountains falls into the temperate rainforest category . Some of the southernmost coastal redwoods grow in valleys and on the slopes facing the ocean , together with the Douglas fir , which has its southernmost area of distribution here. Quercus agrifolia , the American strawberry tree , Myrica californica , Oregon maple , California laurel, and the California black oak are also found in the Santa Cruz Mountains. There are also some small and demarcated stands of primary forest , particularly in Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and Portola Redwoods State Park and in a primary forest on the Big Basin . At higher elevations and on the sunny southern slopes dominated Chaparral -Vegetation: bearberry species, Quercus berberidifolia , Adenostoma fasciculatum and Pickeringia montana . Early bloomers can also be found very frequently.
The area is home to a number of different bird species such as the yellow-billed lizard ( Pica nuttalli ). In addition, both black deer, a subspecies of are mule deer , Western gray squirrels , chipmunks and raccoons widespread. Foxes , coyotes , bobcats , pumas and the human-imported northern opossum also live in the region, but are spotted less often. In the higher, drier chaparral, rattlesnakes also inhabit the region.
climate
The Santa Cruz Mountains have a Mediterranean climate that is typical of most of California. Most of the annual precipitation falls between November and April. According to the National Weather Service , this adds up to more than 1,270mm annually. Heavy summer fog often covers the western, ocean-facing slopes and valleys, resulting in drizzling rain and mist caused by condensation on the sequoia, pine, and other tree species that keep the moisture-dependent sequoia trees alive. Due to the effect of the rain shadow , the precipitation on the eastern side of the ridge is significantly lower, namely approx. 640 mm per year. Snow falls sporadically over the year on the highest mountain ranges, and powder snow is even rarer in the higher valleys.
In the weather stations of the National Weather Service in the mountains, including Black Mountain 2WSW, the following was measured: average annual rainfall 931 mm, maximum annual rainfall 2049 mm, average annual snowfall 18 mm, maximum annual snowfall 200 mm. Los Gatos 5SW - average annual rainfall 844 mm, maximum annual rainfall 1615 mm, average snowfall 69 mm, maximum annual snowfall 230 mm; No temperature measurements were taken at these stations.
Normal winter temperatures range from above 30 ° F (~ 3–4 ° C) to mid-50 ° F (~ 13–14 ° C), with frost in the valleys common but rarely widespread or deep. Summer temperatures typically reach highs of 80 ° F (~ 28-29 ° C) with temperatures reaching 40-50 ° F (~ 9-12 ° C) at night. Temperature reversal can occur at any time of the year when cold air sinks down and remains trapped in the valleys.
Use and tourism
The Santa Cruz Mountains have been legally defined as part of the American Viticultural Area since 1981 . Wine has been produced in this area since at least the 1840s . The Santa Cruz Mountain AVA has developed into a high quality wine producer, which was also recognized on May 26, 1976 in the Judgment of Paris . There are over 30 wineries in the area.
The Santa Cruz Mountains are home to an unusual abundance of parks and protected open spaces, including California's oldest state park, the Big Basin Redwoods State Park . Other state parks include Castle Rock State Park , Portola Redwoods State Park , Butano State Park , Forest of Nisene Marks State Park , McNee Ranch State Park and Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park with the famous Redwood Grove trail. Other secured land includes the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District , the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), the Sempervirens Fund and local park districts. Hiking, horse riding, mountain biking, climbing, and backpacking are popular activities. There are two longer hiking trails in the mountain range: the Skyline-to-the-Sea Trail , which runs 38 miles from Castle Rock State Park through the Big Basin to the Pacific Ocean, and the Bay Area Ridge Trail , which, although not yet continuous, runs parallel to Skyline Boulevard along the ridge of the mountain range. In addition, there are several campsites in isolated areas, making trips over longer distances possible. Castle Rock State Park is open to rock climbing and bouldering.
Cultural history
The previous historic Old Almaden Winery was located in the eastern valleys of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was the first commercial winery in California, among other things, high-quality European wine varieties were planted.
Film director Alfred Hitchcock and his wife Alma had their primary residence near Scotts Valley, the Cornwall Ranch, which they acquired in September 1940.
In the 1960s, a strong countercultural atmosphere developed in the Santa Cruz Mountains .
The Jerry García family owned a house in the small town of Lompico where Garcia's right middle finger was chopped off at the age of four. Lompico also offered residency to Janis Joplin and the Big Brother and the Holding Company group .
Writer and attorney Ken Kesey owned a house in La Honda that served as the home base for his Merry Pranksters . He often entertained his friends at LSD parties he called “acid tests”. These parties were named in some of Allen Ginsberg's poems and also described in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test , and Hells Angels: The Strange and Terrible Saga by Hunter S. Thompson .
In 1965, science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein built on property in Bonny Doon and lived there until shortly before his death in 1988.
Web links
- A resource book for the Santa Cruz Mountains with history and current information about living in the Santa Cruz Mountains.
- www.hiway17.com A community website founded in 1996. Occasionally has a web cam on Highway 17.
- peaklist.org Santa Cruz Mountains ranked by prominence
- summitpost.org Santa Cruz Mountains entry
- Bay Area Hiker South Bay Hikes
- Santa Cruz Mountains in the United States Geological Survey's Geographic Names Information System
Individual evidence
- ↑ Morena Sierra ( English ) In: Geographic Names Information System . United States Geological Survey . Retrieved December 1, 2010.
- ^ John Hunter Thomas: Flora of the Santa Cruz Mountains of California: A Manual of the Vascular Plants . Stanford University Press, 1991, ISBN 9780804718622 , p. 5 (Retrieved October 25, 2010).
- ^ Luther A. Ingersoll: Henry D. Barrows (Ed.): A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California . Lewis Publishing Company, 1893, p. 190 (Retrieved October 25, 2010).
- ↑ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Douglas-fir: "Pseudotsuga menzesii" , GlobalTwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg Archived copy ( memento of the original from June 4, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and still Not checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Central California
- ↑ George M. Taber: Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine . Scribner, 2005, ISBN 978-0-7432-4751-1 .
- ↑ http://www.parks.ca.gov/listed_resources/default.asp?num=505
- ↑ Hitchcock had Link to Santa Cruz Co ( Memento of the original from September 5, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ SonsofEternity.html
- ↑ http://www.nndb.com/people/710/000023641/ , including quoted passage from San Francisco Chronicle columnist Herb Caen .
