California
San Francisco, Yosemite National Park, Muir Woods, Napa and Sonoma Valley, and some Coast
DAY 6, Part 1: The Coast north of San Francisco - Point Reyes
Wind swept tree on Point Reyes.
The plant at the bottom of this picture is called the ice plant. It is an invasive plant that somehow came to the San Francisco area from South Africa. It spreads and covers all of the ground, choking out the native species. When we were at Point Reyes, some people from the Sierra Club were trying to pull it out of places it was growing. But as we walked down to view the lighthouse, we realized that it was a losing battle. The ice plant was all over the place, and it grew in areas where no human would be able to go. Then as we drove up the coast, we saw that people seemed to be using it around the entrances to their property as ground cover. Who would have ever thought that introducing a plant like this into an ecosystem would be a good idea?
