Sunday, June 28, 2009

Torrey Pines State Reserve

As many of you know, California's State Parks are currently being threatened with closures due to California's fiscal crisis. In an attempt to bring attention to all the wonderful state parks California has to offer, my blogging friend Bridget at Family Adventure Guidebooks and I are participating in  State Park Saturdays. We will be featuring a different CA State Park every Saturday (or Sunday like today)  and we encourage you to do the same. If you don't live in CA then feature a state park in your home state. Let's bring attention to these treasures to increase awareness of what the state park system has to offer and encourage others to stand up and help protect these important places Last Sunday was Father's Day. It was also Save Our State Parks weekend. I felt it was important to participate in both so we combined the two and celebrated Father's Day in a place we had never been before, Torrey Pines State Reserve.

There are native pine trees along the coast of San Diego. For anyone who has visited the area, the concept is a bit bizarre. San Diego has a Mediterranean climate. Pine forests aren't exactly what typically come to mind. But there it is, perched on the bluffs of La Jolla. A pine forest. Torrey Pines are some of the most rare pines in the entire world. They only grow in and around the reserve  in San Diego and on Santa Rosa Island which is part of the Channel Islands off the coast of California.  Given the rarity and the beauty of these forests, protecting them is a no brainer. Especially since so many trees had been killed by an non-native beetle infestation in the 1960s. The remnants of the infestation remain along the trails and add a stark contrast to all the life that surrounds them. 

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The Guy Fleming Trail is the perfect introduction to what Torrey Pines has to offer. Its a one mile loop trail that takes allows you to walk amongst the pines and enjoy amazing views of the great blue yonder from bluffside viewpoints.

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Its a place where you can watch birds having a blast surfing the updrafts while parasailers make their best attempts at being birds themselves.

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Its a place to enjoy wildflowers and the tiny forms of wildlife that come along with them.

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But most of all its a place to enjoy the trees.

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Ansel pine cones

Ansel pines    

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4 comments:

Helene said...

Gosh, those are such gorgeous pictures!!!!! I love the site of the beach!!! We're going to Tahoe at the end of July so I'll be sure to take some pictures and do a post about some of those places up there (though I'm sure my pics won't be as beautiful as yours....mine will probably be all blurry b/c as I'm snapping the pics one of my kids will most likely run off and be dangling from the side of a cliff....)

BenLand said...

wow....i've never seen pine cones quite like that before??!!! how cool!!!
beautiful pictures :)

New Brunswick Scientific Bioprocess Team said...

Great job monks.

Lorraine Akemann said...

This was my first time visiting your blog, it is full of great stuff! I lived in Del Mar for 8 years and know Torrey Pines well. I used to walk along the train tracks and then along the beach from Del Mar to Torry Pines Beach, not sure if they still allow that now, but it was such a great view along the cliffs.