Water! It’s a conundrum here in Northern California. We either have lots of it or not enough. For instance, We have the Salmon Falls Bridge, near Folsom Lake, Now you see it and then you don’t! That’s because the bridge and the town that once flourished as gold-mining boomed is usually submerged under the American River. The bridge only appears during a drought, and our Discovery Park, along the American River, is sometimes flooded during heavy rains.

The Downie River is a tributary of the North Yuba River in Sierra County, California. The river originates from the confluence of the West Branch Downie River and Rattlesnake Creek in the Tahoe National Forest, and flows south to its confluence with the North Yuba at Downieville. Downieville is definitely a tourist town with one cafe which is closed during the non-tourist season! I know from experience.

Every California landscape has wetlands. They form where rainfall or runoff accumulates, or where groundwater saturates the topsoil. Many parks, nature preserves, agricultural lands, and private lands have wetlands that are carefully managed for waterfowl and other wildlife. We visit various refuges and parks each year to photograph birds.

I cannot forget our many lakes. This is Donner Lake, of infamous history. It is a natural freshwater lake formed by glacial activity that created a moraine acting as a natural dam. This picture was taken from Donner Pass during the winter. Donner Lake is at 6,000 ft. elevation and often receives a good amount of snow. California depends on the Sierra snow pack for our water supply.

Let’s go west for my final image–the beautiful and rugged Northern California Coast Line. This was taken somewhere between Point Reyes and Half Moon Bay.

These are my six choices for John’s challenging challenge! When you post your response, please link to John’s post and use the Lens-Artists tag.

Last week Sofia’s challenge created puzzle challenges with her “What Is It?” challenge. It was enjoyable fun. Beth will be leading next week’s challenge, so stay tuned. In the meantime, stay safe and be resilient.

44 thoughts on “Lens Artists Challenge #412: Places shaped by water”

  2. Oh, Anne, they’re all spectacular images but, by far, my favourite is the coastline. It’s a beautiful location, you’ve composed it perfectly and there are so may wildflowers – pink, yellow, white… Plus waves and rocks. This is a scenery like nothing in south-west Ontario which makes it truly special and appealing to me. Thank you for sharing these great images! pp

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    1. Thanks Pam! We do have the Sierra Mountains that run from the Mojave Desert through Northern California. It’s typical for us to get snow up there (about one hour from us), and I remember when we lived in Los Angeles, we used to go up the mountain to the snow.

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    1. Thanks Terri! We almost bought a house in the Pocket Area, but wisely didn’t. Discovery Park doesn’t flood annually any more. I believe there is less rain. However, they are predicting an El Nino winter here, so who knows.

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