California, the golden state

TRAVEL | United States
Along the Pacific Ocean:
the wild coastal
region of Big Sur
California,
the golden state
Kalifornien besticht durch seine atemberaubende Natur und seine spektakulären
Attraktionen. Entdecken Sie die Glanzlichter des „Goldenen Staates“ von Norden nach Süden.
Von CLAUDINE WEBER-HOF
O
In the Spanish style:
Hearst Castle, near the
town of San Simeon
GETTING ORIENTED
Which route should you take to discover California? If you like,
you can start your journey in the north of the state at the famous
Redwood National and State Parks. From there, it’s a five-hour
drive south to San Francisco. Then visitors usually drive inland
towards Las Vegas, Nevada, stopping at the national parks of Yosemite and Death Valley along the way; or they continue south,
along the Pacific on Highway One. The legendary coastal road
leads to the lovely city of Monterey, to a beautiful region called
Big Sur, to Hearst Castle, and then to LA. The last major stop
before the border with Mexico is San Diego, California’s birthplace and the focus of the travel story that starts on page 18.
fairy-tale [(feri teI&l]
gold rush [(goUld rVS]
most populous
[moUst (pA:pjElEs]
reputation [)repjE(teIS&n]
Sleeping Beauty
[)sli:pIN (bju:ti]
tech titan [(tek )taIt&n] ifml.
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Spotlight 8|14
MärchenGoldrausch
bevölkerungsreichste(r, s)
Ruf
Dornröschen
Technologiegigant, Elektronikriese
Fotos: iStock; Hemera; Redwood National Park; Napa Valley Wine Train
ptimism: that’s what California is all about. America’s most populous state — home to 38 million
people — has long been associated with the power
of positive thinking. In the 1500s, explorers arrived from
Europe, hoping to find wealth. Then came the Spanish
and Mexican colonists who created it with hard work on
immense ranches and farms. Sudden riches seemed possible only when gold was found in California in the 19th
century, however. That gold-rush spirit lives on today in
the many Hollywood hopefuls and in Silicon Valley’s tech
titans. No wonder “Cali” is seen as the place where two
different kinds of freedom — creative and commercial —
met and got married.
Many things have contributed to the state’s sunny reputation. One is the coast. More than 1,350 kilometers of
beaches and cliffs act as a magnet for surfers, sailors, and
photographers. Well-loved, too, are the protected parklands, with trees that reach to heaven and deserts as hot
as hell. The houses of the rich and famous can be found
somewhere in between, and some are even open to the
public. But the perfect symbol of the state’s mix of sun
and kitsch is the fairy-tale castle close to LA, the Disneyland home of Sleeping Beauty.
The journey begins at the location of the tallest tree in the
world: the coast redwood. Sequoia sempervirens grows in the
Redwood National and State
Parks of California’s north as
well as over the border in Oregon
— and nowhere else.
In the park’s Tall Trees Grove,
redwoods that grow to 115 meters or more stand like
time’s silent sentinels. They can live for more than 2,000
years thanks to the rich soil, heavy winter rains, and a
moist blanket of fog that rolls in from the Pacific Ocean.
For native Roosevelt elk and the rare marbled murrelet,
the forest provides a wonderful place to live.
Included in the enormous park are 65 kilometers of
coastline. From Gold Bluffs Beach, visitors can watch
gray whales at play and sea lions sleeping in the sun. The
park is a paradise for hikers and perfect for scenic drives,
too. One route, the coastal loop, combines panoramas of
the Pacific Ocean and the Klamath River with a visit to a
secret World War II radar station. For more information,
see www.nps.gov/redw and www.savetheredwoods.org
Hilly San Francisco is widely considered to be the
most European of US cities. Its lively Castro and Mission districts still have the alternative flair that the hippies
brought with them in the 1960s, when everyone who
was not going to war in Vietnam was headed West “with
flowers in their hair.” Today, Twitter and other technology firms pour money into the city’s buildings and expectation onto its streets. Beyond its hills, shining with
cable-car tracks and the tall office towers of downtown,
is a masterpiece of engineering known around the world:
the Golden Gate Bridge.
“Frisco” is seen as Northern California’s main city,
even though the state capital, Sacramento, is just 90
minutes away. Nature is nearby, too. Walkers who like to
spend time on the beach go to the city’s own Crissy Field,
which is right on the water, or to Point Reyes National
Seashore, north of town. The Napa and Sonoma Valleys
are an hour away by car. Tours of the famous wineries
there, such as Grgich Hills Estate and Domaine Chandon, can be enjoyed on board a special train. For more
information, see http://winetrain.com
Trees that reach to heaven
in the Redwood Parks;
right, a Roosevelt elk
cable-car [(keIb&l kA:r]
coast redwood [koUst (redwUd]
hiker [(haIk&r]
marbled murrelet
[)mA:rb&ld (m§:ElEt]
moist [mOIst]
Roosevelt elk [(roUzEvelt elk]
scenic drive [)si:nIk (draIv]
sentinel [(sentIn&l]
soil [sOI&l]
winery [(waInEri]
with flowers in their hair
[wIT (flaU&rz In De&r )he&r]
Kabel(straßen)bahnKüstenmammutbaum
Wanderer, Wanderin
Marmelalk (kleiner Alken­
vogel)
feucht
Roosevelt-Wapiti
landschaftlich schöne Fahrt
Wachposten
(Erd)Boden
Weingut, Weinkellerei
Textzeile aus dem Lied „San
Francisco” von Scott McKenzie
All aboard the
Napa Valley wine train
For more about the San Francisco Bay Area,
see www.sanfrancisco.travel
San Francisco with the
Oakland Bay Bridge
8|14 Spotlight
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