GNA - The Two Californias
The Californias include mainland California and the island of Baja California. The mainland is composed for the temperature lands surrounding the Sacramento bay and the mountains which ring it - the Klamath mountains to the northwest, Sierra Madre to the east, and the San Gabriel and San Bernardino mountains to the south. These southern mountains as split in half by the San Andreas Straight, with one half of both ranges remaining on the mainland and the other forming the northernmost portion of the island of Baja California, beyond which is desert.
The climate of mainland California is semi-arid Mediterranean with mild, wet winters and dry, hot summers. The average temperature in summer is 30 C while in winter it is about 20 C. Temperatures tend toward mild on the pacific coast and along the Sacramento Bay. Meanwhile, at high elevations like the southern mountains, summer temperatures become more varied and cooler in general, as little as 7 C at the peaks. The highest temperatures in the region occur in the summer at mid elevations. Precipitation averages about 550mm a year but can be as high as 1400mm in the southern mountains and 3000mm in mountains of the north. Rainfall tends to be lower near the south which verge on desert along the Atlantic coast. That said, fog coming in from the ocean helps to provide moisture there. In general the climate of mainland California is very predictable with little change day-to-day or week-to-week.
The island of Baja California, besides its northern mountains, has a desert climate with hot summers and cool winters. Temperatures across the region average 30 C annually. Rainfall is seasonal with a rainy summer season that peaks August-September declining slowly until February with a dry season from March to June. Mean annual precipitation is 100-200mm. Despite this low rainfall the region is subject to dense fogs, high humidity (between 50-70%), and can have severe tropical storms during which a years worth of rain can fall in a single evening.
Like the rest of the Pacific coast, both Californias lies on the ring of fire, a massive ring of active volcanoes and unstable tectonics. This means the region is prone both to volcanic eruptions and disastrous earthquakes. The worst of these in living memory split a vast rift between Palm Springs and Los Angeles which flooded to become the San Andreas straight. Seasonal wildfires are another danger in the region, typically occurring every decade, usually in late summer or fall toward the end of the dry season. In many areas intentional burning can help alleviate the danger of these fires.
Across much of California terrain is either rugged with steep hills or is nearly level, typically with abrupt changes between the two. In the mountains, the terrain is instead dominated by high, steep ranges split by narrow valleys, plateaus, or extensive floodplains. These slopes are prone to landslides and earthquakes. Rivers in the mountains flow westward, including perennial streams toward the Pacific from the Klamath mountains and seasonal streams toward the Sacramento bay from Sierra Nevada. Meanwhile, in the lowlands the ruins of cities cover the coast and ring the Sacramento bay. Many ruins, often overgrown with aquatic plants, occur within the bays itself threaten shipping which can find itself beached on ancient walls hidden beneath the water. Great mounds of brick and stone rubble, yawning foundation pits, or lengths of ancient walls are all common sights. Often new structures are built directly onto the skeletons of these ruins. The region lacks lakes and rivers occur only in the mountains. These include perennial streams that flow west into the pacific in the Klamath mountains and seasonal streams that flow into the Sacramento bay from the Sierra Nevada.
Meanwhile, in the deserts of Baja California, terrain tends to be flat or rugged with some places having dissected plateaus or steep-walled canyons that can be a deep as 300m. Rock outcrops are chiefly volcanic. As it has always be a sparsely settled region is largely lacks the ruin fields of mainland California, though those ancient cities which existed are better preserved by the dry environment. There is no perennial surface water anywhere though water can be found in places at the bottom of canyons or low-lying sierra slopes.
The plants of mainland California change drastically depending on altitude. At lowlands the dominant vegetation is either chaparral, a kind of shrubland, or grass, introduced a millennium ago by new arrivals. Other forms of lowland ground cover include savannahs and open woods of shrubs and trees, especially oak in addition to invasive species, juniper in the Klamath mountains and pine in the Sierra Nevada. Woodlands grow especially thick in canyons or along rivers, though it is worth mentioning that much of lowlands are heavily settled creating a highly manicured landscape of gardens, farms, woodlots, and meadows for grazing. As one climbs into the foothills of the mountains human influence wanes and woods of oaks give way to thicker forests of pinyon and juniper trees. At mid elevations coniferous forest are dominant with trees like pines, firs, and junipers - red sequoia, massive trees that can grow over 300ft also occur in the Klamath mountain and Sierra Nevada. At the highest altitudes subalpine forests dominate with stunted lodgepole pines and junipers being common. At the very highest parts of the Sierra Nevada, these transition to alpine meadows and bear rock.
In the Baja island plants tend to be a mix of thick-stemmed shrub, rosette shrubs, and cactus including agave, sour pitaya, creeping devil, and red barrel cactus. Oak forests and palm groves occur at the highest parts of canyons and mountains of the Sierra de la Giganta corridor. palm groves and similar riparian vegetation also occurs along drainage corridors and in spring-fed areas.
Fearsome Critters: black bear*, bobcat, cougar, coyote, wild boar
Big Game: bighorn sheep*/**, black-tailed deer, fallow deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope**, Roosevelt deer*
Small Game: beaver*, black rat, fox (grey/desert**), ground squirrel, kangaroo rat**, marmot* (yellow-bellied), nutria, pocket mouse, rabbit, raccoon, river otter*, skunk
Fowl: albatross, condor, cormorant, crow, curlew, dove, falcon, hawk, mockingbird, ospey, owl, parakeet, parrot, pelican, plover, quail, roadrunner, swan, tern, turkey vulture, vireo, wrentit, woodpecker
Fish: bass, bluegill, bullhead, carp, catfish, chinook salmon, crappie, goldfish, lamprey, logperch, minnow, perch, shad, shiner, steelhead, sturgeon, sucker, trout
Pests: ant swarm, hairy spider, venomous snake
*These animals occur only in the Klamath mountains and Sierra Nevada
**These animals occur only in the Baja Californian desert
Besides the surrounding mountains, mainland California is one of the most densely settled regions of North America with a population density of 80 people per square mile most of whom live along the cool, dry Pacific coast or Sacramento bay. Agriculture fills nearly every flat area of land in the region and grazeland and woodlots fill much of the rest. Cereal grains, corn and alfalfa are the dominant forms of agriculture. However, these crops are highly supplemented by fruits and vegetables including lettuce, artichoke, spinach, celery, tomato, strawberry, citrus fruit, avocados, and onions. Vineyards and olive groves also grow well throughout the region. Cotton is a common clothing fabric. Livestock include cattle, sheep, goats, and poultry (chickens, fucks, geese, and turkeys)
The mountains, in contrast, are much less developed with fewer than 5 people per square mile. There is limited agriculture and woodland grazing practiced and fishing is an important subsistence method along the coasts and San Andreas strait. The region also provides timber for the more settled regions of the north.
Least settled of all is the island of Baja California, where small bands of humans live as fishermen along coasts or goat herds travelling between the coast and inland springs.
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