I had an excellent trip to Yosemite and learned a lot about the history of California on the way to Yosemite.

California History

We all know that the flag of California has a giant bear on it; it is a grizzly bear, which has all been killed for potential human injury. The current bear alive in California all are black bears, and I am lucky enough to spot one on the Yosemite park! It is such a pity that our bus is prohibited from stopping at the spot, so I only get a blurry shot of the eating bear.

Then she also filled us with the history of California. California has initially been the domain of the Spanish, who have spent over a hundred years in California looking for gold. The Spanish find nothing, and finally, the rebellion then takes the land. The resistance established the California Republic, which eventually merges into the U.S... That's why the California state flag has a republic on it.

California Agriculture

On our long way across the California valley, the endless pasture and fields of corn are enjoyable. The tour guide told us that California had provided a quarter of American agricultural finance, but the animal husbandry has caused severe pollution to the land of the valley. And due to the economic growth of the valley, more and more people moved in, which caused more damage to the ground.

I am so astonished by the advance of the agricultural techniques. I almost want to settle down here to be a farmer, getting away from the city, provide my family and me with my bare hands and machines. But after all, it is just a fantasy. There is no way I could make such a massive turn in my life.

Giant Sequoias

There is much redwood in Berkeley. They are young giant sequoias. Since they are so young, they don't quite look like giant sequoias. Mature sequoias have no branches on the bottom of it, but young sequoias would keep it. In the Yosemite national park, I saw what is said to be one of the largest trees in the world. It is called the grizzly giant. And I have heard an interesting story about it. It goes like this: a young man found the tree and called on his friends to come and pay a visit to it as well. However, his friends are not interested in it, so he made up a story that he has killed a grizzly bear on the mountain, so his friends all went with him. Since then, the tree became famous, and people named it with the story.

Wildfire

We also spotted a lot of fallen trees due to the wildfire. Because of the constant drought, fire became more frequent, and more trees have been flamed because of it, the grasses on the pasture are also drier than usual. I also learned an interesting story about why fire burns faster uphill. The reason is that the flames can easily reach more unburnt fuel in front of the fire. Radiant heat pre-heats the fuel in front of the fire, making the fuel even more flammable.

National park

And conservation like Yosemite are properties of the federal government, so we can't take out a single stone out of it and should leave nothing but our footprint.

And President Trump is now trying to cut down the area of national parks so that there could be more industry and the economy will rise accordingly. This could be massive damage to the conserved area, and it is only a short-term solution to the problem that Americans encountered right now. I think one of the reasons that make the developed country a developed country is that it doesn't need to destroy the environment and labour its people to maintain the growth of economics. In China, we have a saying for that behaviour:" Kill the chick for one egg", which you will never get more eggs after you killed it.

People Being Late

And an awful phenomenon happens during our trip. Every time we get together to get on the bus, people arrive late, and they are all Chinese students. I feel so humiliated at those times. Though I know that I am not the one to blame, I always want my country to represent well so I will not be treated as a stereotype like this.

For other of my travel, I have visited several falls in Yosemite. The tour guide told us it is lucky that they are all abundant because they always dry out in Aug since the snow on the summit is all melt at this time.

Rock Climbing

One of them is very hard to climb to, the road is so steep, and the rocks are so tough. However, that is also the place where I got the best view. And it feels really good to get something right after working hard. I may cite another old saying: "You can only see the rainbow after a storm."

And I have seemed the brave warrior who just finishes climbing a vertical rock. The last guy, maybe the team leader, was responsible for untieing the knots. After untieing all the knots, he climbs down from a 20-meter rock with his bare hands. I think I would never be able to do something like that. It is very strange that generally speaking, the ones who treasure his life more should survive the brutal evolution easier. However, the ones who are willing to risk his life are more respected than the previous ones. I would settle being an ordinary person instead of dying at a young age doing thrilling things.