Fort McHenry, Baltimore Harbor, Maryland

A while back we had the opportunity to visit Fort McHenry in Baltimore, Maryland. This historic site is perhaps best known for its role in the War of 1812 where it successfully blockaded the entrance to the harbor from attacking British warships.  Its position at the mouth of Baltimore Harbor and the range of its cannons was such that the attackers could not get close enough to the city for their cannons to reach the shore and cause damage.

Fort McHenry has also served as a hospital for returning soldiers from WW1.  During this use the Fort held as many as 3,000 patient soldiers served by over  200 doctors, 300 nurses, 300 medical corpsmen, and 100 civilian hospital aides.

The photos below give a brief picture of this facility  and the artifacts it houses.   The cannons are particularly impressive given the metal working technology present in the early 1800’s when these were originally made.

The sail boat shown is an actual privateer from the time.  Privateers were ships given special permission by the President to attack and capture British and Irish vessels that were attacking the USA.  The owners and crew of these ships were required to share the value of the capture with the government but could keep their share.   These privateers were an important part of our defenses during the War of 1812.

Fort McHenry is also noted as the inspiration for Francis Scott Key to write the Star Spangled Banner.  Key was being held captive on a British warship outside the harbor after trying to obtain the release of American prisoners. True to story he watched the heavy attack on the fort and the next morning he saw the flag still waving above the barricade and was inspired to write the epic poem. 

 

some of the smaller cannon used to defend the Fort.

Entrance to the main fort area.

interior showing the barracks and armory, the round building.

Inside the armory showing barrels of gunpowder.

 

Officers quarters.

Enlisted quarters.

the cannon balls for the large guns are about 30" diameter.

one of the large cannons that had a range capable of keeping the British ships at bay preventing them from bombarding the city of Baltimore.  A crew of men would push this gun around on the steel tracks to aim it while another crew would use gears to crank the barrel up or down.

Empty mounts for the large cannons.

this site is a common school field trip and the students assist in folding the large flag that flys over the Fort.

Privateer at dock

California Poppy Reserve

The San Gabriel Mountains provided a spectacular backdrop for our trip through the high desert of Palmdale Hesperia area.

the traffic was plentiful with many out of state cars filling the parking areas. our trip from the road to the park entrance took over 30 minutes for about 1/4 mile.  Many decided to forgo the wait and parked on the street walking up to the viewing areas

the hills were covered by the natural blanket of California Poppy.

 Broad vistas of rolling hills covered with an abundant bloom of poppy

originally the fields were seeded but over the years natural expansion of the flowers was allowed to prepare the fields for the next bloom.  the rains of this last year provided the right growing conditions for an outstanding bloom. 

some plants are just more prolific than others

This lizard must have thought she was at an open buffet with all the bugs brought to this area by the poppy bloom.

the grey is not dead plants but what looked like variety of desert sage.

there were abundant rodent tracks as can be seen in this photo. the small dark hole in the lower right corner was entrance to a burrow and its heavy use was evident by the trail that runs up the middle of the picture.

the poppy were not the only flower in bloom as evidenced by these few pictures.

 

 

Channel Islands National Park

Our visit to the Channel  Islands National Park is hard to show since the islands are small and there is not a good view of the entire chain.  The map below, from wiki, shows the entire archipelago and highlights the channel Island National Park in the north.

These islands are a bit unique in that they are the result of tectonic plate movement that formed them independent of the mainland.  That they have never been attached to the main continent makes them a great example of development in almost  total isolation.  Some animals and plants are unique  to these islands alone with their development attributable to this  isolation.

Early Native Americans, the Chumash tribe,  claimed these islands and used them for living, as they are a very safe place since enemies could be seen coming in boats.  The Chumash Indians also found these islands to be  great fishing grounds offering abundant fish and shell fish.

Later European settlers came to the islands and established farms and ranches.  The raising of cattle proved to be difficult given the size of the animals which needed to be transported to and from the islands.  Sheep were smaller and easier to handle but they ate everything down to the ground which eliminated the natural grasses they fed on. While the remote isolated location deterred rustlers cattle and sheep proved to be too difficult and the practice faded out.  Over fishing the locally  abundant schools of sea life caused the fishing industry to almost collapse. 

Comprised of four islands, Anacapa, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz, and San Miguel, the area was designated a national monument in 1938 and became a National Park in 1980. Much of the area is owned by Nature Conservancy but included inside the Park.  

 

this shows the entire archipelago of channel islands with the National Park highlighted in green

our trip was to Scorpion Bay. the island in the distance is Anacapa the smallest of the Park islands.

this park is a popular spot for school field trips with discounted transportation cost and National Park Service guides available. with all the natural wonders around them this group of 6th graders wasted no time in setting up a baseball diamond and engaging in a modified game. the telling comment was "where is first base?" "just make up one and go there!"...Calvin Ball at its finest.

Scorpion Bay from the bluff above

Yellow Mustard plants were plentiful. Black Mustard had bloomed a few weeks earlier.

coastal view with Anacapa in distance

our departure location at Ventura Harbor.

the wall shown is dry stack masonry.  this process involves using rocks alone, no cement, to build retaining walls. the rocks are stacked and then smaller stones are used as wedges to hold the larger ones in place.  these walls can be 2'-3' thick and are incredibly strong, as you can see from this picture above.  tot he right is how this construction metho was used to create rain catch basins for watering the livestock.

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farm equipment once used on the island is now rusting and unused.

the Island Packers ferry boat we arrived on. it was low tide and so we had to climb up a ladder to disembark.

a nice feature of the ferry was this monitor showing our location, water depth and boat speed.

the island fox is unique to the island. approximately 2' long this smaller version of the mainland fox evolved into this mini version as a result of reduced food supplies and  the need to avoid being raptor food.  these animals have no fear of humans and if you leave a backpack open on the ground expect one to check it out for anything it finds of interest. we watched one tug open a top flap on one and steal a bagged sandwich.  Cheeky little buggers!

proof photo that we were there

Kayaking is a popular past time on the island. the ferries will tote your boat for a fee or you can rent one from the concession at the bay

Morning glory flowers have evolved into almost pure white. Perhaps the local insects preferred this over the mainland blue?

the island ravens are huge, noisy and inquisitive. This one kept reminding us of his presence and asking for a handout.

the Park Service has maintained the few original ranch buildings as their on-island headquarters.

this single windmill pump was the sole reliable source of water on the island.  Rain collection ponds were seasonal

a view of the north coast from bluff above Scorpion bay.

South view from above Scorpion Bay

the Santa Cruz Island Bush Mallow is endemic to this island alone.

Yellow coreopsis were in bloom