The West Coast: A Sampler

I was chatting with a friend a few days back. The conversation, once edited heavily in my favour, went like this.

Friend: Start some random conversation. I'm bored. Stressed. And depressed.

I (reaching for my phone first thing after I woke up): Hey! The first topic in my mind. Hmm, Pacific Northwest!

Friend (in all probability, banging head on the wall, thinking): Again, why am I friends with her?

I (hiding my face under a pillow in shame, assuring myself): It's really early for a Saturday. I read a lot of geography yesterday, that explains it.

I: You can tell me to change the topic, if you want.

Friend: No, go ahead.  

I: The Pacific Northwest region roughly includes parts of Northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and the Canadian state British Columbia.  

Friend: By the way, why is it still called British Columbia?

I (completely ignoring the question): This region has several mountain ranges including Cascade range, Coast mountains, and Rocky mountains. The Cascades have very dense vegetation. Due to the proximity to the Pacific ocean, the Cascades experience heavy snow and rainfall every year. There are also many active volcanoes here, the Cascades are a part of the Pacific Ring of Fire. The tallest peak in the region is Mount Rainier which I visited last fall. Wikipedia says that the largest single season snowfall in the world was recorded in Mount Baker. I'm finding that hard to believe for some reason.

Friend: Why haven't you shared these pictures yet?

I: I'm lazy... Well here is one.

This place is called Reflection lake.

Friend: Serene! It's hard to think of snow and vegetation together.

I: The trip was so much fun, we were driving and driving. A couple of my friends flew from Austin and three of us flew to Portland from SF. It's another interesting story, but that's for another day.

Friend: Why don't you blog about all this! Why does it always have to be about that venna Vedder? * (venna = idiot/waste fellow)

I (mumbling rhetorically): I don't know, nobody reads.

I (Failing to notice the slight on my favourite musician): Anyway, back to the Northwest. What else do I know about the place?

Friend: The area? Population?

I: Washington and Oregon are politically very liberal. Washington has legalized medical marijuana. The major cities in the Pacific Northwest are Seattle, Portland and Vancouver.

(And then it hit me) Wait, the music scene in Seattle is spectacular. In the late 80s, Seattle gave birth to a subgenre of alternative rock called grunge. It was inspired by hardcore punk and heavy metal. Bands like Soundgarden, Nirvana and Pearl Jam became hugely popular and contributed to the commercial success of grunge.

Friend: Oh! Nirvana too. So, how does grunge compare to metal? Less noisy?

I: Mostly, and less growling.

Friend (laughing out loud): Better description.

I: Soundgarden was the first grunge band to sign a major record label. Its lead singer is this guy, Chris Cornell.

Friend (laughing again): I'll look him up. Long hair?

I: Of course. Check out the songs 'Flutter girl', 'Like a stone', 'Be yourself' (the latter two by the supergroup Audioslave) and the theme from the movie Casino Royale 'You know my name'.

Friend: Oh, that was him!?

I: Yes. (Continuing) On our trip to Rainier, we took a five hour detour to visit the city called Aberdeen, the place where Nirvana's Kurt Cobain was born and grew up. The city pays tribute to the late singer by installing this sign, a reference to one of his songs.

I: Anyway, back to the geography lesson. Let us now venture south of the Cascades.

Friend: South, yes! I'm ready.

I: The next big mountain range we cross is the Sierra Nevada. Fondly known as the High Sierra, the range is famous for towering Sequoia trees and the California gold rush among other things. The famous Yosemite valley was sculpted by alpine glaciers from the ice age.

Friend: A valley from the ice age! It's getting better.

I (rambling incoherently): Yes, it is very beautiful. Wilderness campers and backpackers are wary of the bears this region inhabits.

I: The lack of water in Yosemite falls is indicative of this year's drought.

South of Sierra lies the vast Mojave desert, the driest and hottest place in North America.

Friend: Oh yeah, there is a game that I play! With the cowboys, snakes and tiger lilies.

I (the narcissistic bad-friend that I am): Death Valley has the highest recorded temperature on earth.

Friend (probably angry by now): Oh!

I: Bad water basin in Death valley, at 282 feet below sea level, is the point of lowest elevation in the US. Anecdotally, the highest elevation in continental US is Mt. Whitney which is less than 100 miles from bad water basin.

I: And this is all in California.

Friend: Great place, California is.

I (Is he still angry? Is that sarcasm?): Moving closer to the coast, there are numerous mountain ranges that form the Coast Ranges. Big Sur coast is famous for the windy segment of the highway CA-1 along the coast, where the sheer cliffs drop down to the ocean.

In conclusion, yes I have fallen in love with California and the whole of west coast. In its diverse landscape. In the primal beauty it showcases...

Friend: <Silence>

Yeah, that must have been sarcasm. He was a great listener.. He said he was depressed!

* Dear friend,

If you are reading this, I regret to inform you that I can no longer consider you my bff**, now that you have opened up about your true feelings for Eddie. It's over.

Plays in head: It's all over but the crying by Garbage.

**The BFF spot is now open. Floyd lovers, Nickelback*** haters, and rich people who go to one or more concerts per month and are willing to buy me tickets fairly often may apply.

***I don't really hate Nickelback. It was them or Taylor Swift and I didn't want her in the same sentence as You-Love-Who.

OK, I am just kidding about the spot being open. Not just because of the Europe invite!