California sea lions line the beaches and gray whales float by during migration. With almost two hundred square miles of ocean and five remarkable islands, Channel Islands National Park represents miniature versions of a California many visitors may have thought long lost. With the rich diversity of plants and animals protected within its boundaries, the park conserves archeological sites from almost 13,000 years of human presence.
Far off the coast of California looms a harsh rock known as the island of San Nicholas. Dolphins flash in the blue waters around it, sea otter play in the vast kep beds, and sea elephants loll on the stony beaches. Here, in the early 1800s, according to history, an Indian girl spent eighteen years alone, and this beautifully written novel is her story. It is a romantic adventure filled with drama and heartache, for not only was mere subsistence on so desolate a spot a near miracle, but Karana had to contend with the ferocious pack of wild dogs that had killed her younger brother, constantly guard against the Aleutian sea otter hunters, and maintain a precarious food supply. More than this, it is an adventure of the spirit that will haunt the reader long after the book has been put down. Karana's quiet courage, her Indian self-reliance and acceptance of fate, transform what to many would have been a devastating ordeal into an uplifting experience. From loneliness and terror come strength and serenity in this Newbery Medal-winning classic.
On January 1 of 2016, Stefanie Payne, a creative professional working at NASA Headquarters, and Jonathan Irish, a photographer with National Geographic, left their lives in Washington, D.C. and hit the open road on an expedition to explore and document all 59 of America's national parks during the centennial celebration of the U.S. National Park Service - 59 parks in 52 weeks - the Greatest American Road Trip. Captured in more than 300,000 digital photographs, written stories, and videos shared by the national and international media, their project resulted in an incredible view of America's National Park System seen in its 100th year. 'A Year in the National Parks, The Greatest American Road Trip' is a gorgeous visual journey through our cherished public lands, detailing a rich tapestry of what makes each park special, as seen along an epic journey to visit them all within one special celebratory year.
**A New York Times Bestseller!** Based on the wildly popular Instagram account, Subpar Parks features both the greatest hits and brand-new content, all celebrating the incredible beauty and variety of America’s national parks juxtaposed with the clueless and hilarious one-star reviews posted by visitors. Subpar Parks, both on the popular Instagram page and in this humorous, informative, and collectible book, combines two things that seem like they might not work together yet somehow harmonize perfectly: beautiful illustrations and informative, amusing text celebrating each national park paired with the one-star reviews disappointed tourists have left online. Millions of visitors each year enjoy Glacier National Park, but for one visitor, it was simply "Too cold for me!" Another saw the mind-boggling vistas of Bryce Canyon as "Too spiky!" Never mind the person who visited the thermal pools at Yellowstone National Park and left thinking, “Save yourself some money, boil some water at home.” Featuring more than 50 percent new material, the book will include more depth and insight into the most popular parks, such as Yosemite, Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, and Acadia National Parks; anecdotes and tips from rangers; and much more about author Amber Share's personal love and connection to the outdoors. Equal parts humor and love for the national parks and the great outdoors, it's the perfect gift for anyone who loves to spend time outside as well as have a good read (and laugh) once they come indoors.
Beautifully designed and user friendly, this definitive, revised edition of the Society's bestselling guide illuminates all 55 of the scenic national parks in the US. Includes detailed descriptions of each park, author-guided tours of personal favorites, excursions to nearby sites, national monuments, wildlife refuges and forests. 76 maps. 45 color photos.
Chuck Graham has produced a pictorial homage to the Carrizo Plain at its most beautiful. His excellent photographs encourage the reader to explore the many hidden paths, valleys, flowing springs, and mountain ridges beyond the easily travelled roadsides of the Carrizo Plain, one of the last areas of wilderness habitat in the Golden State of California.
Explore the remarkable history of one of the jewels of the US National Park system California’s Northern Channel Islands, sometimes called the American Galápagos and one of the jewels of the US National Park system, are a located between 20 and 44 km off the southern California mainland coast. Celebrated as a trip back in time where tourists can capture glimpses of California prior to modern development, the islands are often portrayed as frozen moments in history where ecosystems developed in virtual isolation for tens of thousands of years. This could not, however, be further from the truth. For at least 13,000 years, the Chumash and their ancestors occupied the Northern Channel Islands, leaving behind an archaeological record that is one of the longest and best preserved in the Americas. From ephemeral hunting and gathering camps to densely populated coastal villages and Euro-American and Chinese historical sites, archaeologists have studied the Channel Island environments and material culture records for over 100 years. They have pieced together a fascinating story of initial settlement by mobile hunter-gatherers to the development of one of the world’s most complex hunter-gatherer societies ever recorded, followed by the devastating effects of European contact and settlement. Likely arriving by boat along a “kelp highway,” Paleocoastal migrants found not four offshore islands, but a single super island, Santarosae. For millennia, the Chumash and their predecessors survived dramatic changes to their land- and seascapes, climatic fluctuations, and ever-evolving social and cultural systems. Islands Through Time is the remarkable story of the human and ecological history of California’s Northern Channel Islands. We weave the tale of how the Chumash and their ancestors shaped and were shaped by their island homes. Their story is one of adaptation to shifting land- and seascapes, growing populations, fluctuating subsistence resources, and the innovation of new technologies, subsistence strategies, and socio-political systems. Islands Through Time demonstrates that to truly understand and preserve the Channel Islands National Park today, archaeology and deep history are critically important. The lessons of history can act as a guide for building sustainable strategies into the future. The resilience of the Chumash and Channel Island ecosystems provides a story of hope for a world increasingly threatened by climate change, declining biodiversity, and geopolitical instability.
Smart, short, and irresistibly illustrated, This Is a Book for People Who Love National Parks is a park-by-park celebration of the American outdoors. For devoted park-goers and casual campers alike, this charming guide is nothing short of a celebration of America's natural wonders. An introduction to the storied history of the Parks Service is paired with engaging profiles of each of the sixty-one National Parks, from Acadia to Zion and everything in between. Quirky facts and key dates are woven throughout, while refreshingly modern illustrations capture the iconic features of each majestic setting. Deeply researched but not too serious, This Is a Book for People Who Love National Parks is an essential addition to every park lover's field library.
Prehistoric foragers, conquistadors, missionaries, adventurers, hunters, and rugged agriculturalists parade across the histories of these little-known islands on the horizon of twenty-first century Southern California. This chain of eight islands is home to a biodiversity unrivaled anywhere on Earth. In addition, the Channel Islands reveal the complex geology and the natural and human history of this part of the world, from the first human probing of the continent we now call North America to modern-day ranchers, vineyardists, yachtsmen, and backpackers. Not far below the largely undisturbed surface of these islands are the traces of a California that flourished before historical time, vestiges of a complex forager culture originating with the first humans to cross the Bering Land Bridge and spread down the Pacific coast. This culture came to an end a mere 450 years ago with the arrival of Spanish conquistadors and missionaries, whose practices effectively depopulated the archipelago. The largely empty islands in turn attracted Anglo-American agriculturalists, including Frederic Caire Chiles’s own ancestors, who battled the elements to build empires based on cattle, sheep, wine, and wool. Today adventure tourism is the heart of the islands’ economy, with the late-twentieth-century formation of Channel Islands National Park, which opened five of the islands to the general public. For visitors and armchair travelers alike, this book weaves the strands of natural history, island ecology, and human endeavor to tell the Channel Islands’ full story.
For the first time a thorough history of Santa Cruz Island's tumultuous past is provided. In pre-Columbian times it was a source of wealth to the indigenous peoples--the place where they made their shell bead money. During the Spanish-Mexican period it was a smuggler's haven, where fur hunters avoided the customs officials.
