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19-508: On September 24 and December 17, 1769, the Portolà expedition crossed the river, which they named Río de las Truchas (Spanish for "trout"), saying "We pitched camp on the bank of a small river containing much running water, which, in several pools or eddies, held a considerable number of trout, and other species of fish." Nacimiento , meaning 'source of the river' in Spanish, was also given to

38-639: Is found at an elevation of 600 to 900 feet (180 to 270 m) near Ventana Camp on the Big Sur River . This camp is at the bottom of a 300-foot (91 m)-deep canyon, in the redwood belt, and is frequently foggy. The northernmost tree was located in 1927 at 750 feet (230 m) elevation on Skinners Ridge to the east of the North Fork of the Little Sur River , but it's not known if it survived subsequent fires. The first known specimen

57-784: The Santa Lucia Range , part of the Coast Ranges , forms the southwestern boundary of the Nacimiento River watershed. The San Antonio River watershed divide forms its northeastern boundary. The San Antonio River, which feeds Lake San Antonio and is also a Salinas River tributary, mirrors the Nacimiento's path several miles to the northeast. About 46 percent of the watershed is agriculture and rangeland, with another 33.7 percent classified as open space, recreational or rural land. About 15.7 percent of

76-752: The Santa Lucia fir or bristlecone fir , is the rarest fir in North America, and according to some, the world. It is confined to steep-sided slopes and the bottoms of rocky canyons in the Santa Lucia Mountains , in the Big Sur region on the central coast of California, United States. The species may have had a broader range in the Ice Age era, rendering it a possible paleoendemic , although some scientists say no fossil evidence of

95-538: The Nacimiento River flows southeast through a rugged canyon before emerging in a large alluvial valley within Fort Hunter Liggett. After being joined by Stony Creek about 15 miles (24 km) west of Lockwood , the Nacimiento River flows through a series of remote canyons and narrow valleys along the eastern foothills of the Santa Lucia Range. Soon after crossing into San Luis Obispo County,

114-597: The Pacific Coast, was found in Anastasia Canyon in the vicinity of the Arroyo Seco River and Tassajara Hot Springs . Most stands are found on north- and northeast-facing slopes. Trees are rarely found under 1,700 feet (520 m) elevation. When found at lower elevations, they are always located at the bottom of a large canyon, where cold air drainage enables it to thrive. The lowest stand

133-689: The Salinas River watershed. The Nacimiento Dam was constructed without fish passage and the historic habitats above these dams are no longer available to steelhead. Portol%C3%A0 expedition Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.133 via cp1102 cp1102, Varnish XID 551585392 Upstream caches: cp1102 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 05:35:47 GMT Santa Lucia fir Abies bracteata ,

152-486: The base to spread either side of the shoot in two moderately forward-pointing ranks with a 'v' gap above the shoot. The leaves are hard and stiff with a sharply pointed tip, 3.5–6 cm long and 2.5–3 mm broad, with two bright white stomatal bands on the underside. The flowers bloom in early May, and the ovoid, 6–9 cm long (to 12 cm including the bracts) cones mature and release winged seeds from late August to October. The cones differ from other firs in that

171-553: The dam, the Nacimiento River travels east for about 10 miles (16 km) until it joins the Salinas River at Camp Roberts , Monterey County. Except for its uppermost reaches and headwaters, as well as the short stretch below Nacimiento Dam, much of the river is dry in summer and fall, although perennial pools abound. Tributaries to the upper river include Little Burnett, Tabacco, Salmon, Las Berros, San Miguel, Stony, El Piojo, Waller, and Sapaque Creeks. Streams which flow into

190-411: The headwaters. Valley floors consist of a mix of native bunchgrass and needlegrass as well as non-native annual grasses seeded for grazing. Because most streams in the watershed are seasonal, there are only small areas of riparian and wetland habitat. The Cone Peak Gradient Research Natural Area located near the source of the Nacimiento River is an area unusual for its ecological diversity and presence of

209-729: The lower river include Las Tablas, Franklin, Town, Dip, Snake, and Kavanaugh creeks. Additional main stem creeks include: Carrals Spring, Slickrock Creek, Stony Creek, San Miguel Creek, Upper Los Berros Creek, N. Fork Los Burros Creek, San Miguelitos Ranch, Gabilan Creek, Los Bueyes Creek, Lower Los Burros Creek, Oak Flat, Waller Creek, Mesa Coyote, Pozo Honda Creek, Turtle Creek and Gulch House Creek. The Nacimiento River watershed comprises 361.5 square miles (936 km), with about 54 percent in San Luis Obispo County and 46 percent in Monterey County. The crest of

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228-499: The rare Santa Lucia fir ( Abies bracteata ). Threatened and endangered species in the watershed including the arroyo toad ( Bufo californicus ), western pond turtle ( Actinemys marmorata ), California red-legged frog ( Rana draytonii ) and the California condor ( Gymnogyps californianus ). The Nacimiento River historically comprised some of the best steelhead trout ( Oncorhynchus mykiss ) spawning and rearing habitats in

247-529: The river by Father Juan Crespí of the Portolà expedition September 21, 1769. Later the river was referred to as Nacimiento by Juan Bautista de Anza who, on April 16, 1774, crossed the river and assumed wrongly that Nacimiento had been named for the nativity , also a Spanish translation. Rising south of Cone Peak, within the Ventana Wilderness of Los Padres National Forest in Monterey County,

266-542: The river flows into Lake Nacimiento , the largest reservoir in San Luis Obispo County, formed by Nacimiento Dam 18 miles (29 km) downstream. The reservoir is operated by the Monterey County Water Resources Agency and was built in 1957 to provide water for irrigation and groundwater recharge , drought protection, and to provide recreational opportunities such as swimming , boating , fishing and water skiing . Downstream from

285-785: The tree canopy and limit the strength of fires. The fir currently grows in a few scattered areas within the Santa Lucia Mountains along the Pacific Slope of California. Four concentrations are found in the vicinity of the Ventana Double Cone and Kandlbinder Peaks, Junipero Serra Peak , Cone Peak , and on the Monterey / San Luis Obispo County line, along San Carpóforo Creek within the Hearst Ranch. The most inland stand, 13 miles (21 km) from

304-487: The tree has been conclusively identified. The tree is now confined, possibly due to long-term climatic changes, to a few, small locales that mimic those of the distant past. The fir tends to be concentrated in steep, rocky, fire-resistant spots at elevations from 2,000 to 5,000 feet (610 to 1,520 m). Due to the tree's thin bark, it is susceptible to fire, and large stands are always located near high cliffs or in steep, rugged canyons that prevent litter accumulation under

323-599: The watershed is occupied by Camp Roberts and only 5 percent is urbanized. As of 2010, only about 3,000 people lived in the Nacimiento watershed. Annual precipitation ranges from 11 inches (280 mm) in the valleys, to 41 inches (1,000 mm) at the river's headwaters. The Nacimiento watershed includes several different types of California oak woodland communities, including blue oak , coast live oak , and valley oak mixed with foothill pine , manzanita and chaparral . Montane hardwood-conifer forests dominated by Coulter pine occur at higher elevations, primarily in

342-475: The winter and very dry summers. No one has been able to introduce it successfully in the eastern United States, but numerous groves thrive in Europe. The 66 to 115 feet (20 to 35 m) tall tree, has a slender, spire-like form. The thin bark is reddish-brown with wrinkles, lines and resin vesicles ('blisters'). The branches are downswept. The needle-like leaves are arranged spirally on the shoot, but twisted at

361-475: Was collected in 1831 or 1832 by either botanists Thomas Coulter or David Douglas . They likely collected specimens from Cone Peak to the west of Mission San Antonio . Both sent specimens to England, but Coulter's specimen was first identified as bracteata and the name given his species has become the common use. The tree is a popular ornamental and is found in many arboreta . It grows in an equable Mediterranean climate with considerable precipitation during

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