We knew we were in for some rain when we left home on Monday and headed for the Mendocino coast; but we didn’t realize we had an “atmospheric river” bearing down on us. Earlier storms had already left the coastal areas saturated, and our first clue was the detour on the Valley Ford Road west of Petaluma due to flooding […]
You may have noticed I’ve been showing you a lot of photos from the Sterling Pointe area of Folsom Lake. Even though I haven’t been out there in several months, I have so many pictures from previous visits that they just keep turning up. I think this may be the last for awhile, but no promises! The reason why I […]
The Lupine Shores camping area sits on the tip of a peninsula at the former site of Lake Berryessa’s Steele Canyon Resort. We visited here about a week ago and found the camping grounds closed for the winter. But in April 2024 it was open, and while the camp sites were still vacant, I found so many great places to […]
When I stopped along Highway 1 to check out the Moat Creek beach access in December 2023, it was not my first visit. But it was the first time I followed the trail up onto the bluffs above the beach. What I found was a neat little loop trail, although at the time I was slightly disappointed that it wasn’t […]
Two locations in Mendocino County, near the town of Point Arena — Stornetta to the north, and Moat Creek to the south. Stornetta has become a favorite fishing area for the Big Guy, and I’ve enjoyed exploring the trails there, where occasionally you may encounter grazing dairy cattle. In early December 2023, I visited both sites on the same day. […]
It was early January 2021, and with the usual wintertime low water levels and not much rain, our hike from Sterling Pointe revealed a lot of bare tree limbs, rocks, and sand once we left the higher elevations. Further up, things were more green, but those areas normally covered by water later in the season were now exposed — providing […]
I noticed our first white camellia of the season just the other day — the red ones always open a bit later. And in less than 24 hours a bunch more had already burst from their buds. These three trees grow along the side of our house and for most of the year don’t get much attention, unless they start […]
