Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest

 

The Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest is located in the White Mountains in eastern California.

The oldest tree in the world, Methuselah, is located here. It is 4,855 years old.

One reason the trees look so unique is because over time, their strong roots become exposed.

Many of the trees remain standing, even after death, because they are so hardy.

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The location of the Methuselah tree is a secret.

The bristlecone pine can be distinguished by the female's dark purple cones with prickles.

Make sure to stop by Schat's Bakery in Bishop after your visit!

Hot Creek Geologic Site

Hot Creek is located near Mammoth Mountain in the Inyo National Forest in California.

~700,000 years ago, a caldera was formed here by a large volcanic eruption. Now, water from the Sierra Nevada filters through cracks in the earth's crust heated by magma, creating steam and boiling water.

They really don't want you going to close to the geothermal features. The temperature of the springs can vary randomly.

Fish thrive nearby because of the warm water.

Majestic

 

Mono Lake

 

Mono Lake is a saline lake located east of the Sierra Nevada mountains in California.

Calcium carbonated the water, forming tufa towers from limestone.

The towers are exposed because Los Angeles diverted freshwater flowing into the lake, and was forced to stop after a legal battle.

Mono Lake is very salty because it has no outlet.

No fish live in the lake, but plenty of brine shrimp do.

Spooky clouds

Hearst Castle

 

Hearst Castle is located on the central coast of California.

It was built for newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst  between WWI and WWII.

Architect Julia Morgan used treasures Hearst amassed from around the world as inspiration for the castle.

Hearst hosted wild parties for the Hollywood elite during the Roaring Twenties.

To visit the castle, you purchase a ticket at the bottom of the hill it's perched on.

Alex Trebek extols Hearst's virtues over the loudspeaker on the bus you take to the castle.

Europe's economic devastation enabled Hearst to acquire many artistic masterpieces and earned him the nickname the "Great Accumulator."

I enjoyed this dining room with flags from Siena's contrade.

Nice use of Persian tile

The land Hearst Castle is located on was actually acquired by William Randolph's father, George, a successful miner and California Senator.

A statue from the castle's  movie theater

The Roman pool was inspired by mosaics from Ravenna.

A beach popular with elephant seals is located near the castle.

It is one of the few beaches you can easily see baby elephant seals.

Lassen

 

Lassen Volcanic National Park is located in northeastern California and contains all four types of volcanos: plug dome, shield, cinder cone, and stratovolcano.

When we went, the road through the park was closed; its usually closed most of winter.

We were able to visit the Sulphur Works, a hydrothermal area where sulfur used to be refined in the 19th century.

Pools of water are heated by magma from Mount Tehama, and reek of sulfur.

Lassen became a national park in 1916.

A large fire swept through Lassen in 2021.

New Clairvaux Vineyard is located near Lassen, and its soil is made rich from volcanic silt.

Once Leland Stanford's vineyard, it was purchased by Trappist-Cistercian monks in 1955.

We also visited the Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, which brews some excellent beers.

Our Airbnb had some great light fixtures.

Lima

Lima is the capital and largest city of Peru.

Lima was founded by Francisco Pizarro in 1532. Lima Metropolitan Cathedral was under construction from 1535 to 1797 on the site of a former Inca shrine.

Pizarro is buried in the Cathedral.

He was assassinated in 1541 by supporters of his former partner Diego del Almagro.

There is a diagram next to his body detailing his wounds from the attack as seen on his remains.

A catacomb under the Cathedral.

The bodies are covered with lime to aid in decomposition and the smell.

Spooky

The Archbishop had quite the reception room.

A painting of the succession of Inca Kings and Spanish Kings painted in 1725

The Archbishop's Palace next to the Cathedral is also quite sumptuous.

Peru's president also lives next to Plaza Mayor.

Facade of the Church of Merced

The Museo Oro del Peru y Armas del Mundo is an impressive collection.

A gold rattle

A gold cat head made between 700-1350 A.D.

Pre-Columbian Peruvian culture and religion was very sexual

Lambayeque drinking vessels

The Lambayeque culture was centered in the northwest coastal region of Peru.

A cat coca bag made between 300 B.C. and 500 A.D.

A tumi knife of the Lambayeque culture with Naymlap, bringer of civilization, as the handle.

Tumi knifes were used for animal sacrifice.

A pectoral decoration

Lambayeque funeral arms

Skull and feathers crowns of the Nazca people from 100-600 A.D.

Metal plates were used by pre-Columbians after cranial surgery.

A colonial quipu, which used knots to keep track data needed to administer Inca lands. Experts are still unable to decipher them.

Pre-Columbian Peruvians were also talented weavers.

Gold nose ornaments

Anthropomorphic Chancay vases from 1300-1450 A.D. and bolases.

Stone bludgeons

A Nazca 12 tube flute with a beheaded man on it

Spondylus shells were a pre-Columbian form of currency. These silver plates show the harvesting of spondylus shells.

That's a lot of weapons.

Stirrup shoes

Quite the design.

The Larco Museum is housed in a beautiful old mansion.

A Cupisnique pot from 1250-1 B.C.

A Moche cup from 1-800 A.D. depicting the deity Ai Apec's arrival in the world of the dead.

Moche portrait vessels only portrayed men.

The Chimu people produced this pottery under Inca rule. The Inca Empire rapidly expanded in the 15th century, just before the arrival of the Spanish.

Nazca pottery from 1-800 A.D.

Warriors captured by the Moche were often sacrificed.

A Moche sacrificial knife and cup. Lambayeque knives look similar because that culture succeeded Moche culture in northwestern Peru.

A Moche lime container. Lime was mixed with coca leaves when chewed as a catalyst.

Clubs were the weapon of choice in ancient Peru.

A Huari mummy of a 4-5 year old from the 8th century.

Silver nose ornaments of the Chimu people from 1300-1532 A.D.

Silver ear ornaments

Moche gold ear ornaments

Nose ornaments

Vicus funerary attire from 1250-1 B.C.

Chimu crowns and adornments

A bird man outfit used by the Moche people in ritual race.

Chimu golden funerary offering of a lord buried in Chan Chan.

The collection is massive; Peru's history is much deeper than the Spanish and the Inca.

There's vases for everything!

Birds playing drums!

Demon vampires!

The Larco is also home to a large collection of pre-Columbian erotic pottery, including these Moche vulva drummers. The drum is supposed to sound like the heartbeat felt in a mother's uterus.

Moche anthropomorphic penises

Moche depictions of animal intercourse

These heads depict Pachamama, Mother Earth. Seminal fluid was offered to the earth in ceremonies.

Bed sharing

When the dead awaken and ascend to the world, and the deity passes from the celestial world to the underworld, anal penetration represents the reversal of order.

Propitiation of the ancestors

The tree of life grows from Ai Apec reproducing with Mother Earth.

The dead fertilized the underworld

You can buy him in the gift shop!

Parque de las Leyendas is a zoo and an archeological site.

There are many huacas scattered throughout the park.

The animals don't seem to mind.

There were some fun cohabitations in the zoo.

Sloths can get along with anything.

A different kind of lucky pond.

Hmm

An old tomb at the park

Huaca Cruz Blanca

Huaca Hullamarca is located in the heart of San Isidro district.

It was used as a religious site by the Pinazo culture between 200 B.C. and 300 A.D.

It later became a burial site.

The huaca was discovered when the site was used for construction material during a development boom in the 1950s.

Many funerary bundles were discovered there.

Huaca Pucllana is located in the Miraflores district

It was built by the Lima Culture and used primarily between 200-700 A.D.

The site was once much larger, but destroyed to make way for development.

Sacrifices and banquets took place at the pyramid.

The resident llamas

Ritual vessels were also broken there.

The Museum of Memory, Tolerance, and Social Inclusion was closed by the right-wing local government while we were in Lima. Peru's government was unstable and its history the subject of much debate. There had been an attempted coup and large protests in the country a few months before we visited.

Peru was the center of Spanish power in South America and loyalists consolidated there to resist Simon Bolivar's revolution.

Indigenous people continued to be oppressed by people of Spanish descent. Their lives were made much harder by the conflict between the Shining Path and other rural insurgent movements against wealth right-wing cities.

The Amano Pre-Columbian Textile Museum is also located in Miraflores. This is Chancay cotton gauze from 1100 A.D.

A Karwa textile fragment from 1000 B.C.

The Paracas people lived in the desert coastal region of southern Peru, and made these textiles between 800 B.C. to 100 A.D.

Huari designs

Chimu textiles

a quipu

Chancay sculptures

The Museo de Arte de Lima also houses an impressive collection. This is a Moche depiction of a sacrifice in the presence of Ai-Apaec

A Paracas mantle from 100 B.C.-100 A.D.

Nazca depictions of human sacrifices as severed heads.

Nazca bottle of a condor eating a human body

Nazca heads with mustaches

Saint James the Moor Slayer aiding in the conquest of Cuzco. I don't think this portrayal of Saint James is very popular anymore. Painted ~1800.

Saint Anthony of Padua, painted ~1750

Burial of the Bad Priest, 1860-1868

A depiction of the funeral of Saint Rose of Lima, painted in 1918

Not my favorite imperial coat of arms

The death of Simon Bolivar

El Chinito, founded by a Chinese immigrant, serves traditional Peruvian sandwiches

Santiago Queirolo serves traditional local food and pisco.

The pisco sour at the Gran Bolivar Hotel

Lima's mixed drink scene is amazing, especially in Miraflores

Carnaval has the best drinks in town.

Mayta was great as well.

A latte with algarrobina, a syrup made from the Black Carob tree

Central was memorable for its focus on the biodiversity of Peru and the ingredients found in those regions. The dish (not shown) made from a piranha-like fish (shown) that eats fruit that falls from trees into rivers was especially delicious.

Dishes made from each part of the cocoa plant

Maido was another excellent Peruvian restaurant with a Japanese fusion.

Mayta was also delicious.