California watermelon snow (7 photos)

Come back in August, the snow just arrive in time :)




Close your eyes, please dial into the hands of the pure snow, press it to his lips, and you will feel the structure of watermelon. Now, breathe deeply, and you will feel the smell of watermelon. Now we can open the eyes ...



If you are currently in the Sierra Nevada in California (USA), and then you see the hands of a real watermelon snow, having not only the structure and smell, but also the color and even the taste of watermelon! Here, at an altitude of three thousand meters there is a unique miracle of nature.



For millennia, this mystery snow watermelon (watermelon snow) surprised scientists around the world. Even in the treatises on the nature of Aristotle it was marked by this natural phenomenon.



It draws on the snow slopes of the local mountains climbers from around the world. Vast expanses of pink snow opened by the end of spring. And the mystery, as many might have guessed, is in the microscopic algae called Chlamydomonas nivalis. Every centimeter of snow contains millions of microscopic particles, the depth of which can reach 25 centimeters.



Locals sometimes even eat the snow, as to distinguish it from watermelon, watermelon ice cream or rather, can be quite difficult. However, some of these algae are poisonous. Not fatal, but welcome them inside can result in diarrhea, pink ... :)



In general, the algae themselves in nature - green. Pink, they receive only for protection against strong ultraviolet spring that melts the snow cover, under which hide the whole year and algae.



If you are lucky enough to get on the slopes of the mountains, keep in mind that yellow snow does not smell of lemon, and taste it, too, should not be :)