Yeah Joe, in my opinion California has more natural beauty, diversity, and range of extremes than any other state. You guys just don't know how good you've got it (I hear CaT banging his head on his desk right about now). I'll head up to John's beloved Southern Appalachians for a hike, trek most of the day seeing nothing but trees (and lots of 'em), then hit a summit with a small opening in the forest canopy and see . . . more trees. Frankly, I'm sick of trees - at least super-dense forests.
Between business and fun, I've traveled to CA better than 20 times in the past 18 years. I consider it my home-away-from-home, in more ways than one. I don't even bother packing an Atlas anymore. The only part of the state I haven't visited is Northern Cali, above Napa. Over the past 8 years, I've taken my family to almost every major national park Rockies-west, and I've been to 43 of the 50 states. The rest of the country just can't compare to California - except maybe collectively.
Think about it: you have that gorgeous, enormous coast (most of it ruined, incidentally, but still better than anything not called California), and that's what most non-Californians think of when they hear "California". Personally, I can take the beach or leave it. Then you have the Sierra, and those 3 amazing alpine national parks, with Yosemite as the crown jewel of the NPS system. You've got the Redwoods and the Sequoias, each with their own national park. You've got Joshua Tree NP. You've got volcanic wows like Lassen and Shasta. Then you have that far too under-appreciated monster of a NP to the east that I love to spend my winters in. If you combined Washington, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah, you
might have enough national park holy-cows to rival California. Maybe.
And those, of course, are just a few of the
natural feautures of the state. The cities and resorts have their own appeal.
When I think of the problems California faces, most of it goes back to population pressure. Too many people in one place. The Eagles nailed it with "The Last Resort". Imagine what the LA Basin would be like if people had never settled there in huge numbers. I'm certain it would have become another national park.
I'm of the opinion that just about any top-notch, gotta-see east of the Rockies pales in comparison to even the most mundane landscape in much of the West. It's just another installment in our debate.
I feel that way about the Southwest: you have largesse, color, & rock formations seen nowhere else in the world. Only Yosemite Valley(to me, of course)compares in uniqueness.
Bee, you've gotta get outta NorCal and spend more time exploring Death Valley . . .
