It seems like nearly every time I go hiking at Folsom Lake lately I run into discarded pieces of history; I’m aware of the story behind some of them, but others remain mysterious. The other day I persuaded the Big Guy to return to the New York Creek/Salmon Falls area, and while he managed to find a few bass, I […]
It’s been a strange week. I managed to accidentally publish my Wednesday post on Tuesday; then, having received the first of two Covid shots yesterday, I decided I just didn’t have the energy to try and fix my blogging mistakes. I hope to get back on track by tomorrow! Until then, here are a couple of images shot with my […]
Hiking the Pioneer Express Trail from the parking lot at Sterling Pointe Equestrian Staging Area is a seriously up-and-down experience. There are some great views of Folsom Lake — but this time of the year, you’ll be too busy avoiding poison oak, watching swallowtail butterflies, and navigating up and down the horse-sized changes in altitude to notice the view. No […]
I got the chance to learn something about the all-too-brief lives of California Pipevine Swallowtails last Friday while hiking along the south fork of the American River at Folsom Lake. It was amazing how these beautiful butterflies were literally everywhere around me, on just about every wildflower. The California Pipevine is a rare subspecies of the Pipevine Swallowtail, found only […]
It’s hard not to fall in love with the gorgeous blue-sky spring weather we’ve had for the last couple of days — but I’m also sorry to say goodbye to those cool, grey days, or the ones with ever-changing gray and white cloud formations keeping the sky interesting and unpredictable. It was on such a gray, overcast mornings that I […]
Just when I started to think that winter was over and spring weather had arrived, we had a couple more storms move through our area and drop a fair amount of rain. That’s good news for the vernal pools and the creatures that call them home. It also means that the flowers that burst out from around the pools aren’t […]
There’s a pretty nice entrance into Folsom Lake State Recreation Area at the eastern end of Horseshoe Bar Road (Placer County) — but only if you’re on foot. There’s no parking allowed along the road’s shoulder and no lot for cars. That’s why I had never actually seen this area until the day I hiked the two or so miles […]