#Golden Gate National Recreation Area

[rabbitcruiser]

The first civilian prisoners arrived at the Federal prison on Alcatraz Island on August 11, 1934.

[timmurleyart]

North beach up to Coit tower. 🚃💨🌫☁️(mixed media collage on canvas) 🌫☁️

[rexycrazy]

[concertphotos]

Pacifica, California Aerial View by David Oppenheimer Via Flickr: Pacifica Municipal Pier and Seapointe in Pacifica, California aerial view - © 2024 David Oppenheimer - Performance Impressions aerial photography archives - performanceimpressions.com

[northameicanblog]

Hawk Hill, California, United States: Hawk Hill is a 923-foot peak in the Marin Headlands, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and across the Golden Gate strait from San Francisco, California. The hill is within the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. It is the lookout point for the largest known flight of diurnal raptors in the Pacific states. Each autumn, from August into December, tens of thousands of hawks, kites, falcons, eagles, vultures, osprey, and harriers are funneled by the peninsular shape of Marin County into the headlands. Wikipedia

[pleistocene-pride]

Glaucopsyche xerces, better known as the Xerces blue butterfly or simply xerces blue is a recently extinct species of butterfly in the gossamer-winged butterfly family, Lycaenidae. The species was first described and documented in 1852, and was named after the French spelling of "Xerxes", the Greek name of the Persian kings Xerxes I and Xerxes II of the fifth century BC. Reaching around .7 to 1.18inches (18 to 30mm) in wingspan length, the xerces blue is a small, brightly colored butterfly characterized by iridescent blue on the upper wing surfaces of males, and pale spots below. It was endemic to the coastal sand dunes of the upper San Francisco Peninsula where the Xerces fed on vegetation belonging to the genus Lotus and Lupinus. The loss of the Lotus plant that the butterfly fed on while in its larval stages is believed to be the main reason for the extinction of the Xerces blue. As growing urban development resulted in extensive disturbance and loss of habitat of which the lotus plant couldn’t survive. Lupinus, the Xerces blue's other main adult food source, was not suitable for the larval stages. By the early 1940s the Xerces Blue was driven to extinction, becoming one of the first and most well-known butterflies in the United States lost due to human impact, with the last confirmed sighting of a xerces blue occurring in 1943 on land that is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The butterfly’s extinction inspired the foundation of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation in 1971, as well as ushering the need for insect and invertebrate conservation into the public mindset. Today there are ongoing efforts to reestablish related butterflies in the Xerces blue's former habitat such as the silvery blue and the Palos Verdes blue. Also the possibility of reviving the xerces blue via de-extinction is being explored.

[californiastatelibrary]

Did you know San Francisco had a large saltwater public bathhouse, called the Sutro Baths? During high tides, saltwater would run into the baths to recycle the water, and during low tides, there was a pump system which could be activated to cycle the water. The bathhouse was built in 1894 and closed in 1964, when it was sold to a developer after attempts to keep it profitable failed (including converting part of the baths to an ice rink). In 1966, the building burned down while it was in the process of being demolished, and the ruins of the baths are included in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which is protected and operated by the National Park Service.

"View of swimming pools, swimmers, and interior of Sutro Baths. Ping pong tables are seen in the right foreground." c. 1900s, from our online catalog.

[f0xgl0v3]

The Camp Jupiter Map never ends. It consumes

Gang I’m so like, not put together but I gotta start writing lol. Wish me luck 🫡 something something I’ll like. Actually make an informative post one of these days

Woah! Ominous titles aside lol, I have. Continued my downward spiral into insanity and I present you with,

The map. Not the fully finished map but a version of the map that’s drafted out a bit. This is heavily intwined now to HoO re-imagined RIP to anyone who. Don’t like this lol.

Also like SO much not like, scaled at all. I don’t know how big that lake is or how big anything is comparatively. But I think it’s like the thing with the English Channel were you could swim across it if you were trained and wanted to, but also like. No sir, also something something no idea if that’s fresh or salt water I don’t know I’ll figure that out later.

Also in the spirit of that, all of this could change!! Not necessarily the location (Tennessee trail in golden gate national recreational area because I’ve already written rodeo beach into the story. And Percy can still miss camp to get to rodeo beach and the lagoon via trails and the terrain and that stuff.) but like, if Kleos ever learns what scale is then yeah. Also maybe one day I’ll design New Rome but for the most part it gives me headaches so I won’t 😁😁.

But yeah, uh, map subject to change. Something something. ALSO!! Gotta mention the whole new Mt. Tam situation, mt. Tam is now way closer to camp Jupiter. Honestly just makes the war more fun for me and it’s like, a feature. Camp’s double edged sword because of the natural protection the mountain and its monsters give from other aggressors. But also all the monsters lol.

This also puts Octavian within a very short distance of a Build a Bear and that totally didn’t play into this choice/hj

ALSO ALSO!! Uh, SoN re-imagining will probably drop soon, along with chapter 3 of Octavian girdle quest. I am a like, a shit writer lol so don’t expect that it’s amazing. The whole, first 2 chapters for Octavian girdle quest will be getting a whole like, update re-write but yeah :3 those’ll be a thing soon.

[wingedjewels]

Westerm Bluebird by David Assmann Via Flickr: Fort Mason, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco

[gunelle]

Photos and texts: @ed_cooper_photography

1-. Here we see the slightly creepy and surreal Dolls Theater formation, in Big Room Cave, Carlsbad Caverns NAtional Park. New Mexico. Image taken Feb. 1975!

2-. Here we seen sunrise on El Morro, rising about 60m, above the valley floor, located in El Morro National Monument, New Mexico

3-. Tower fall, 40m., with a rainbow, in the northeast part of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming. This waterfall is in the Absaroka Mountain Range and feeds the Yellowstone River

4-. Here we see a mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus, taken yesterday right next to our home here on Sonoma Mountain, California, in the Cooper Biological Preserve

5-. A Confederate wall carving by Augustus Lukeman of, left to right, Jefferson davis, Robert E. Lee & Stonewall Jackson on Stone Mountain, Georgia

6-. Canadian Rockies

7-. El Morro Nat. Monument. New Mexico

8-. Havasu Falls, in the Havasupai Indian reservation, in the Grand Canyon (but not in the national park)

9-. Here we see a road leading us to Mt. Shasta (4317m.), in the northern part of California

10-. Here we see a rock pinnacle in the Cimarron Palisades, Cimarron Canyon State Park, New Mexico

11-. Here we see King's Peak, 4123m., the highest peak in the state of Utah, in the high pristine Uintas Wilderness Area

12-. Here we see Mt. Hope (4217m), reflected in a pond in Arkansas Headwaters Recreation Area, Colorado (13-6-2014)

13-. Here we see Pink Mountain Heather, in the Northern Picket Range, of North Cascades Nationa Park, Washington

14-. Here we see Rodeo Beach with Sea Fig Ice Plant in the foreground, in the Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just north of San Francisco, California

15-. Here we see the amazing Valley of Ten Peaks, in Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada

16-. Here we see the China Wall formation in Slaughter Canyon Cave (new cave) in Carlsbad Caverns National Park. New Mexico - Feb. 1975

17-. Here we see the lighthouse and Black Sand Beach at Point Bonita, in the Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just north of San Francisco, California

18-. Here we see the lighthouse and natural rock arch at Point Bonita, in the Marin Headlands, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, just north of San Francisco, California

[rabbitcruiser]

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to pedestrian traffic on May 27, 1937, creating a vital link between San Francisco and Marin County, California.

The Golden Gate Bridge opened to vehicular traffic on May 28, 1937.

[xtruss]

Alcatraz Island still draws tourists for its history as a federal penitentiary. But it also has a rich past as little-known military base, erected to guard against foreign invasion. Image Credit: Mbprojekt Maciej Bledowski, iStock

Ground-Penetrating Radar Reveals Military Structures Buried Beneath Alcatraz Penitentiary

Using non-invasive techniques, archaeologists have confirmed the presence of a coastal fortification beneath what was once the prison’s recreation yard.

— By Katherine J. Wu, Published March 4, 2019 | August 02, 2023

Alcatraz might be best known as a popular tourist destination, the site of the former high-security prison that once held Al Capone. But a team of archaeologists has now unveiled new evidence of this San Francisco Bay island’s often overlooked military history.

In the study, published last Thursday in the journal Near Surface Geophysics, researchers used non-invasive technologies to pull back the curtain on a stunningly well-preserved 19th century coastal fortification that lies beneath the ruins of this infamous federal penitentiary. The work confirms that while prison construction in the early 1900s destroyed much of the former military installation, several structures were buried more or less intact, enshrining a critical sliver of Alcatraz’s colorful past.

“This really changes the picture of things,” says study author Timothy de Smet, an archaeologist at Binghamton University. “These remains are so well preserved, and so close to the surface. They weren’t erased from the island—they’re right beneath your feet.”

Study author Timothy de Smet used non-invasive techniques to create a subsurface map of remains of Alcatraz Island's former military fortification. Image Credit: Timothy de Smet, Binghampton University

Prior to the mid-1800s, Alcatraz Island was a barren strip of land capable of supporting little more than a raucous population of seabirds. But in the wake of the California Gold Rush, the United States government looked to the rocky outcrop as a potential military base to protect the newly bustling city from foreign invasion. Over the next several decades, a stone- and brick-based fortification was erected, then rebuilt as earthen structures better equipped to handle erosion. But Alcatraz struggled to keep pace with the rapid changes in artillery during and after the Civil War era, and by the late 1800s, the island’s defenses were essentially obsolete. Military pursuits on Alcatraz were abandoned shortly thereafter.

When the island’s prison was erected around the turn of the 20th century, little physical evidence of its former architecture remained—or so many thought. The new study, led by de Smet, says otherwise. To look beneath the surface, the researchers deployed ground-penetrating radar, which pulses electromagnetic waves into the earth, returning signals that can visualize remains without excavation. The strategy uncovered a labyrinth of subterranean structures, including an earthwork traverse, a kind of defensive trench, running beneath the penitentiary’s former recreation yard.

“Below the Surface, Alcatraz is Still Full of Mysteries”

“This really reinforces what several historians and archaeologists had long suspected,” says study author and Alcatraz historian John Martini. “Up until this point, we had nothing to go on except for a few visible trace remains and maps—and a lot of suspicion.”

In a way, Martini says, the findings reflect just how limited real estate was on Alcatraz, which clocks in at less than 50 acres. “On a small island, there’s only so many places you can build,” he says. “And it’s unlikely they went to the trouble of demolishing all this stuff.”

A 15-inch Rodman cannon and its gun crew, 1869. These were the largest guns mounted on Alcatraz. Image Credit: National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area

Because they’re both sensitive and non-destructive, techniques like ground-penetrating radar are crucial for these kinds of investigations, and can complement historical records that survived the era, says Jolene Babyak, an Alcatraz historian who was not involved in the study.

With these results in hand, de Smet and his colleagues plan to continue archaeological investigations under Alcatraz. Going forward, only time will tell what this rock will reveal, Martini says. “Below the surface, Alcatraz is still full of mysteries,” he says. “There’s still a whole lot to be learned.”

Soldiers posing in the island’s ordnance yard. A brick Citadel capped the summit of Alcatraz. 1869. Image Credit: National Park Service, Golden Gate National Recreation Area

[rexycrazy]

[nitrosplicer]

Why Tullik’s Odyssey?

Tullik is the Iñupiaq word for plover. The species’ annual migration journey starts in the Alaskan Arctic, the traditional homeland of the Iñupiat among other Alaska Native peoples. And odyssey because they course through northern Canada to the northeastern United States, dart across the Atlantic Ocean, and wind up in Argentina. To return—no big deal—it cuts through northern South America, across the Gulf of Mexico, through the middle contiguous U.S., then Canada, and returns to the Arctic tundra.

…

One thing that puts shorebirds more at risk than other types of birds is their dependence on beaches, wetlands, and open areas that a lot of people also like to enjoy. Therefore, human recreational disturbance can be a major threat to shorebird populations. Plus, people tend to visit the beach during the same time of year when these birds are there to eat, refuel, and sometimes nest.

“When they get disturbed by recreationists, that ends up having a cumulative impact on their ability to either breed or to migrate to the breeding grounds,” Gates says. “And so if people take into consideration that putting a dog on a leash will make a bird that's traveled 2,000 miles that day have a little bit of an easier rest for a couple of days before their next part of the journey—having that information in your head and an actionable item—I think is really powerful.”

[xis-kaab12]

documentary prison alctraz

A documentary about prison is a film or series that explores different aspects of the prison system, including the experiences of inmates, the conditions inside prisons, the effects of incarceration on families and communities, and the policies that shape the justice system.

Documentary filmmakers often interview inmates, corrections officers, lawyers, and other experts to provide an in-depth look at the realities of prison life. They may also delve into issues such as racial disparities in sentencing, the impact of mandatory minimum sentences, and the use of solitary confinement.

Some notable examples of documentaries about prison include "The 13th" (2016), which explores the intersection of race, mass incarceration, and the criminal justice system in the United States, "The Stanford Prison Experiment" (2015), which re-enacts the infamous psychological study of the same name, and "O.G." (2018), a fictionalized account of a man's struggle to reintegrate into society after serving over two decades in prison.

These documentaries can shed light on important issues surrounding the prison system and can be a powerful tool for sparking discussions and promoting change.

Alcatraz is a former maximum-security federal prison located on Alcatraz Island in the San Francisco Bay. It operated from 1934 to 1963 and was known for housing some of the most notorious and dangerous criminals of its time.

Alcatraz was designed to be a highly secure and isolated facility, with thick concrete walls, metal bars, and guard towers. Inmates were confined to their cells for up to 23 hours a day and were allowed only limited access to exercise yards and communal spaces.

Some of the most famous inmates at Alcatraz included Al Capone, George "Machine Gun" Kelly, and Robert Stroud, also known as the "Birdman of Alcatraz". Despite its reputation as an impenetrable fortress, Alcatraz had several famous escape attempts, including the 1962 "Escape from Alcatraz" in which three inmates managed to escape the island and were never seen again.

Alcatraz was closed as a prison in 1963 due to its high operating costs and the deteriorating condition of the facilities. Today, the island is a popular tourist attraction and is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Visitors can take guided tours of the prison, including the cells, the mess hall, and the library, and learn about the history of this infamous institution.

[jhoffmannphotography]

This random series of small waterfalls in the redwoods on the side of the road caught my eye. Nothing particularly striking or significant but this shot really resonated with me. This is why I love photography. I can capture a scene and a mood at the same time and it doesn’t have to be for anybody else or for anything in particular. It can just be what it is. #redwoods #californiaredwoods #yourshotphotographer #marinmagazine #waterfalls #nikon #forest #coastalredwoods #rainydays #wanderthewoods #appreciatelife #mentalhealthmatters #travel #hikecalifornia #hikemarin #tamalpais #bayarea (at Golden Gate National Recreation Area) https://www.instagram.com/p/CoYnBzIr6nR/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=