Journal of Alta California

Featuring great stories, in-depth reporting, beautiful photography, smart thinking — Alta is the magazine and website that bring you everything California.

CONTRIBUTORS

Journal of Alta California

The End of Hibernation

Medicine Without Borders • A Berkeley acupuncturist expands access to traditional Chinese medicine in the Navajo Nation.

POETRY

DEFENDING THE LIFEBLOOD OF NAPA • As fire season becomes concurrent with harvest in wine country, what is the future of farming—and of cabernet?

Opera in Service of Its Audience • Director James Darrah has a cinematic vision for the future of live performance.

‘A Horrible Death to Die’ • Behind the origin myth of Stanford University lies a century-old murder. The victim: the school’s chief founder and benefactor.

A Tribal History ‘Brighter Than Gold’ • Spurred by the disappearance of a historic drum, Shelly Covert fights to restore the Nisenan’s culture and federal recognition.

The Mushroom Man’s Magic • Artist Phil Ross built sculptures, furniture, and houses with fungi. Now, his mycelium material is being used in Hermès bags, and his company is worth millions. The unlikely entrepreneur’s next idea: lederhosen, made from the fleshy plants.

Let’s Talk About Sex • Red Light Lit’s reading series, journal, and books deliver a pleasing, emotional experience.

IN SEARCH OF THE SECRET WEST

HIDDEN IN PLAIN SIGHT • The West is full of secret places with secret histories. Alta Journal editor and publisher Will Hearst and wilderness-loving futurist Paul Saffo share their favorites.

NORTH COAST • THE REMOTE NORTHERN COASTLINE IS A FOGGY, FUNKY PLACE, FILLED WITH ART AND ODDITIES AND ENCHANTING OPEN LAND.

GOLD COUNTRY • CENTURIES-OLD TOWNS AND HIDDEN MINES SURVIVE TO PROVE IT: THIS IS WHERE THE STATE’S BOOM BEGAN.

Roam If You Want To • Recommendations for the best of California and the West

ACROSS NEVADA ON THE LONELIEST ROAD • Its western neighbors have their wild edges, but the Silver State is wild clear across. Because it’s forgotten. And nobody cares.

OWENS VALLEY • JOURNEY INTO OUR PREHISTORIC PAST—AND HIKE TO ONE OF THE OLDEST LIVING THINGS ON THE PLANET.

MOTHER OF THE WHITE ANGEL JUNGLE • During the Great Depression, Lois Jordan single-handedly served hot meals to more than one million people. Her work filled their bellies and inspired an iconic photograph.

BAY AREA • IT’S BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH TECH INNOVATION, BUT FOOD, ART, AND ALL THAT WATER ARE WHAT DEFINE THE BAY.

SHE WAS BURIED FACEDOWN • A young woman sailing to San Francisco in the late 1860s was one of the unknown travelers in the vast African diaspora.

CENTRAL COAST • DENSE FORESTS, PLUSH VINEYARDS, AND, OH, THAT STRETCH OF HIGHWAY 1, WHICH OFFERS POSTCARD-PERFECT VISTAS.

BIDDY MASON AND HANNAH EMBERS WERE HERE • The Fort Benson historical marker memorializes an incomplete version of events that took place at the site.

CENTRAL VALLEY • BEYOND THE FARMS THAT FEED THE COUNTRY, YOU’LL FIND A DIVERSE LANDSCAPE OF COMMUNITIES RICH IN HISTORY.

THE CONFOUNDING CASE OF SIR ST. GEORGE GORE • An effort to rename a Colorado mountain range takes historical revisionism into uncharted territory.

SIERRA NEVADA • FROM COLD SLOPES TO HOT SPRINGS, ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SPECTACULAR RANGES IS A LAND OF CONTRASTS.

HAMLIN GARLAND’S MAD QUEST FOR THE ‘BURIED CROSSES’ • In the 1930s, one of America’s most distinguished writers scoured the California desert hunting for mysterious Indigenous artifacts that allegedly predated Cortés. He found 16 of them.

THE...