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Mount Denali (Alaska) - 6,194 m

The flag of the United States consists of seven red horizontal stripes, interrupted by six white stripes. There is a blue plane (Union) in the corner containing fifty small, white five-pointed stars in nine horizontal rows. The fifty stars represent the fifty states. The thirteen stripes represent the thirteen original colonies that separated from Great Britain in 1776. The flag was changed 26 times since the union of thirteen states adopted it. The current version dates from 1960 and is the longest version in use. Previously, the 48-star flag had the record (47 years).

After independence of the United States in 1776, the Spanish peso was the most commonly used coin. When the monetary unit was established by the American Coinage Act of 1792, a currency was chosen which had the same value as the common peso. The coin was called dollar. The dollar has a decimal system and the peso has an octal system. The dollar has been considered the anchor currency in international trade since World War II. Depicted on the banknote is George Washington who defeated the British general Cornwallis in Yorktown, Virginia in 1781 which ended the American Revolution. Washington became the first President of the United States from 1789 to 1797.

The Spaniards built the mission Dolores in 1791. In 1835, the village of Yerba Buena was built in what is now Grant Street (Chinatown) in San Francisco. The city got its current name after the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. San Francisco is built on more than 40 hills. The best way to explore the city is on foot.



Glacier Natl. Park is located in the north of Montana at the border with Canada. Together with the Canadian Waterton Lakes Natl. Park it forms a 4000 km² large park. There are more than 130 lakes, more than 1000 types of trees and plants and almost all species of animals that also lived in the park before the Europeans arrived. Great hiking in this park, for example the Highline trail that starts at Logan pass. The views are fantastic.

Redwood Natl. Park is located in the far north of California. The National Parks and State Parks form a long stretch of the coast. The Latin name of the Redwood is Sequoia Sempervirens and is higher, thinner and younger than the ones in Yosemite. The tallest, 112 meters high, is in the Tall Tree Grove in the south of the park. The Jedediah Smith Redwood State Park is located in the north near Crescent City. The dirt road to Stout Grove in this part is beautiful because of the dust on the bushes next to the road. The short hikes at Stout Grove, and in Simpson Reed Grove, are magnificent. In Prairie Creek Redwood State Park you can hike from the visitor center along the Miner's Ridge Trail to the coast and via Fern Canyon, a canyon with perpendicular walls covered with ferns, back along the John Irvine Trail. The paths wind nicely through the hills of this large forest.

The Cascade Range is a mountain range in the west from Mount Garibaldi in Canada to Lassen Peak in northern California. The mountain range contains a number of volcanoes such as Lassen Peak, Mount Hood, Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens and Mount Rainier. Mount Rainier is the highest in the Cascades at 4,392 meters. The vulcano started growing about 1.5 to 1 million years ago. The volcano has about 26 glaciers. Paradise at the south side is the starting point for some nice hikes like the Skyline Trail which lead to a point with great views of the Nisqually glacier and the valley. At the Pamorama Point you have a view of the volcanoes Mount Adams, Mount St. Helens and Mount Hood. Hike back to Paradise on a path with numerous purple flowers. You can extend this hike with the Lakes Trail that runs along Reflection Lake (with reflection of the volcano).

Yellowstone National Park is located in Wyoming. The Minnetaree Sioux named the area after the yellow clay they found on the bank where the Yellowstone River joins with the Missouri. In 1887 Yellowstone became the first National Park. It took until 1917 before it really was a protected area. The center of the park is a plateau at an altitude of 2,286 meters. This is the caldeira of a super volcano which erupted for the last time 600,000 years ago. The Caldeira is supported by a gigantic expanding magma chamber starting a few km below the surface. The biggest attractions are all located in the western part of the park. You will find more than half of the total number of geysers in the world as well as fumaroles, bubbling mud pools and hot springs with beautiful colors. There are deer everywhere and also a lot of bison.