Читать книгу 101 Hikes in Southern California. Exploring Mountains, Seashore, and Desert онлайн

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Late-night and early-morning low clouds (the marine layer) typically cover Southern California’s coastline during spring and summer.

The chaparral plant community is commonly found between 1,000 and 5,000 feet in elevation—almost anywhere there’s a slope that hasn’t burned recently. Chaparral needs more moisture than sage scrub, so in the Santa Monicas it’s often found on the shadier, north-facing slopes and other spots protected from the full glare of the sun. The dominant chaparral plants include chamise, scrub oak, manzanita, toyon, mountain mahogany, and various forms of ceanothus (wild lilac). Yuccas, known for their spectacular candle-shaped blooms, often frequent the chaparral zones. The chaparral plants are tough and intricately branched evergreen shrubs with deep root systems that help the plants survive during the long, hot summers. Chaparral is sometimes called elfin forest—a good description of a mature stand. Without benefit of a trail, travel through mature chaparral, which is often 15 feet high and incredibly dense from the ground up, is almost impossible.