Topatopa Mountains
The Topatopa Mountains are a mountain range in Ventura County, California, north of Ojai, Santa Paula, and Fillmore. They are part of the Transverse Ranges of Southern California. Etymology A name for the mountains was first inscribed within the archives of Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in 1943, citing a nearby Chumash ranchería named "Si-toptopo". In 1945, American linguist and ethnologist John Peabody Harrington noted that "topa" is a Chumash word meaning " reed" or " rush". Geography The Topatopa Mountains lie in an east–west direction east of the Sierra Madre Mountains, and west of the Sierra Pelona Mountains. To the south lies the Santa Clara River Valley into which various creeks drain starting in the mountains into the Santa Clara River. The range reaches an elevation of at Cobblestone Mountain, about north-northeast of Fillmore and about northwest of Castaic. Snow frequently falls on the high peaks during winter. Hydrology Several major tributarie ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Upper Ojai, California
Upper Ojai () is a rural valley with several unincorporated communities in Ventura County, California Ventura County () is a County (United States), county located in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, Ca .... It is located east of city of Ojai on State Route 150 (Ojai−Santa Paula Road), between Ojai and Santa Paula. Upper Ojai is at an elevation of above Ojai, thereby getting its name. It is home to the Besant Hill School, a private boarding school for grades 9 to 12; and the Topa Institute retreat center. References Unincorporated communities in Ventura County, California Ojai, California Unincorporated communities in California {{VenturaCountyCA-geo-stub ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Reed (plant)
Reed is a common name for several tall, grass-like plants of wetlands. Varieties They are all members of the order Poales (in the modern, expanded circumscription), and include: In the grass family, Poaceae * Common reed ('' Phragmites australis''), the original species named reed * Giant reed ('' Arundo donax''), used for making reeds for musical instruments * Burma reed ('' Neyraudia reynaudiana'') * Reed canary-grass ('' Phalaris arundinacea'') * Reed sweet-grass ('' Glyceria maxima'') * Small-reed ('' Calamagrostis'' species) In the sedge family, Cyperaceae * Paper reed or papyrus (''Cyperus papyrus''), the source of the Ancient Egyptian writing material, also used for making boats In the family Typhaceae * Bur-reed ('' Sparganium'' species) * Reed-mace (''Typha'' species), also called bulrush or cattail In the family Restionaceae * Cape thatching reed ('' Elegia tectorum''), a restio originating from the South-western Cape, South Africa. * Thatching reed ('' Thamno ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Riparian Zone
A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a riparian zone. The word ''riparian'' is derived from Latin ''wiktionary:ripa, ripa'', meaning "bank (geography), river bank". Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks are called riparian vegetation, characterized by aquatic plant, hydrophilic plants. Riparian zones are important in ecology, environmental resource management, and civil engineering because of their role in soil conservation, their habitat biodiversity, and the influence they have on terrestrial animal, terrestrial and semiaquatic fauna as well as aquatic ecosystems, including grasslands, woodlands, wetlands, and even non-vegetative areas. Riparian zones may be natural ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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California Montane Chaparral And Woodlands
The California montane chaparral and woodlands is an ecoregion defined by the World Wildlife Fund, spanning of mountains in the Transverse Ranges, Peninsular Ranges, and Coast Ranges of southern and central California. The ecoregion is part of the larger California chaparral and woodlands ecoregion, and belongs to the Mediterranean forests, woodlands, and scrub biome. Geography The ecoregion spreads from low foothills up to the highest peaks of the following ranges: San Bernardino Mountains, San Jacinto Mountains, San Gabriel Mountains, Santa Susana Mountains, Santa Monica Mountains, Sierra Pelona, Topatopa Mountains, Tehachapi Mountains, San Rafael Mountains, Santa Ynez Mountains, and the long Santa Lucia Mountains. The wide elevation range and characteristic climate produce a variety of natural communities, from chaparral to mixed evergreen forest to alpine tundra. File:Angelesnationalforest.jpg, Montane woodlands in the San Gabriel Mountains File:Vasquez Rocks chaparra ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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California Condor
The California condor (''Gymnogyps californianus'') is a New World vulture and the largest North American land bird. It became extinct in the wild in 1987 when all remaining wild individuals were captured, but has since been reintroduced to northern Arizona and southern Utah (including the Grand Canyon area and Zion National Park), the coastal mountains of California, and northern Baja California in Mexico. It is the only surviving member of the genus ''Gymnogyps'', although four extinct members of the genus are also known. The species is listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature as Critically Endangered, and similarly considered ''Critically Imperiled'' by NatureServe. The plumage is black with patches of white on the underside of the wings; the head is largely bald, with skin color ranging from gray on young birds to yellow and bright orange on breeding adults. Its wingspan is the widest of any North American bird, and its weight of up to nearly equ ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sespe Condor Sanctuary
The Sespe Condor Sanctuary is a wildlife refuge in the Topatopa Mountains, in northeastern Ventura County, California, Ventura County, California. It is within the Sespe Wilderness in the southern Los Padres National Forest. History The United States Forest Service established the Sespe Condor Sanctuary in 1947 for the California condor, an endangered species which is the largest living bird in North America. On January 14, 1992, two captive-bred California condors and two Andean condors were released into the Sespe Condor Sanctuary, overlooking the Sespe Creek, near Fillmore, California. This was done by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Hopper Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex, the lead office for the California Condor Recovery Program. These captive-bred condors thrived in the wild and have begun to Reproduction, reproduce freely. Before the sanctuary was established, numerous condors were killed by Electric power transmis ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Los Padres National Forest
Los Padres National Forest is a United States national forest in Southern California, southern and central California. Administered by the United States Forest Service, Los Padres includes most of the mountainous land along the California coast from Ventura, California, Ventura to Monterey, California, Monterey, extending inland. Elevations range from sea level to . Geography The forest is approximately in area, of which or about 88% are public lands; the rest are privately owned inholdings. The forest is divided into two non-contiguous areas separated approximately from one another. The northern division lies within Monterey County, California, Monterey County and includes the Big Sur, Big Sur Coast and its scenic interior areas. This is a very popular area for hiking, with of hiking trails and 11 campsite, campgrounds (ranging from very rugged to suitable for recreational vehicles). The larger, so called main section of Los Padres lies further south, within San Luis O ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Lake Piru
Lake Piru () is a reservoir located in Los Padres National Forest and Topatopa Mountains of Ventura County, California, created by the construction in of the Santa Felicia Dam on Piru Creek, which is a tributary of the Santa Clara River. The reservoir is widely known for celebrity incidents: in 1999, actor Harrison Ford crashed his helicopter by the lake, and in 2020, actress Naya Rivera died by drowning. Several other people have drowned in the lake as well. Due to these incidents, swimming at the lake is permanently banned. United Water Conservation District The elevation of the reservoir is , and the elevation of the dam spillway is . The dam is owned and operated by the United Water Conservation District based in nearby Santa Paula, California. The district is a multi-service district providing flood control, recreation services, surface, and groundwater conservation, groundwater replenishment, and wholesale water for agriculture and urban uses to the Santa Clara ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sespe Creek
Sespe Creek (Chumashan languages, Chumash: S'eqp'e', "Kneecap") is a stream, some long,U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 in Ventura County, California, Ventura County, southern California, in the Western United States. The creek starts at Potrero Seco in the eastern Sierra Madre Mountains (California), Sierra Madre Mountains, and is formed by more than thirty tributary streams of the Sierra Madre and Topatopa Mountains, before it empties into the Santa Clara River (California), Santa Clara River in Fillmore, California, Fillmore. Thirty-one miles (50 km) of Sespe Creek is designated as a National Wild and Scenic River and National Scenic Waterway, and is untouched by dams or concrete channels. It is one of the last wild rivers in Southern California. It is primarily within the southern Los Padres National Forest. The name Sespe can be traced to a Chumash people, Chumash Indian village ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Piru Creek
Piru Creek is a major stream, about long, in northern Los Angeles County and eastern Ventura County, California. It is a tributary of the Santa Clara River, the largest stream system in Southern California that is still relatively natural. The creek drains an area of about , making it the Santa Clara River's biggest tributary in terms of watershed size.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map Retrieved 2011-03-16. Most of the creek above Lake Piru is located in the Los Padres National Forest. There are two major reservoirs on Piru Creek, Lake Piru and Pyramid Lake, which respectively store water for local irrigation and the California State Water Project. Course Piru Creek originates as several small springs on the north side of Pine Mountain Ridge in the Santa Ynez Mountains, in the Los Padres National Forest. It flows eastwards through a gentle valley, where it is joined by Cedar Creek from the right. After the Ceda ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Snow
Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout its life cycle, starting when, under suitable conditions, the ice crystals form in the atmosphere, increase to millimeter size, precipitate and accumulate on surfaces, then metamorphose in place, and ultimately melt, slide, or Sublimation (phase transition), sublimate away. Snowstorms organize and develop by feeding on sources of atmospheric moisture and cold air. Snowflakes Nucleation, nucleate around particles in the atmosphere by attracting supercooling, supercooled water droplets, which Freezing, freeze in hexagonal-shaped crystals. Snowflakes take on a variety of shapes, basic among these are platelets, needles, columns, and Hard rime, rime. As snow accumulates into a snowpack, it may blow into drifts. Over time, accumulated snow m ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Castaic, California
Castaic () (Chumash: ''Kaštiq''; Spanish: ''Castéc'') is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in northwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 18,937. Tens of thousands of motorists pass through Castaic daily as they drive to or from Los Angeles on Interstate 5 (the Golden State Freeway). Castaic Lake is part of the California Water Project and is the site of a hydro-electric power plant. Castaic is northwest of Los Angeles Union Station and northwest of the city of Santa Clarita. The Castaic Range War went on for decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries resulting in dozens of deaths before hostilities ceased in 1916. Name The name Castaic is derived from the Chumash word ''Kaštiq'', meaning "the eye".John R. Johnson, "The Trail to Kashtiq," ''The Journal of California Anthropology,'' vol 5, no 2, pp 188–198SCVHistory.com/ref> The Spanish and Mexicans later spelt the na ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |