Hiking the Darrington Trail

Here are some images from an outing I joined back in April 2024. It was sponsored by Folsom Lake SRA, and two park aides led us along the Salmon Falls Darrington Trail on the South Fork of the American River at Folsom Lake. Because the morning was overcast and slightly drizzly, some people who had signed up for the hike […]

Read More →

Roadside memories

I’ve shared before about taking Highway 16 on the way back from Clear Lake rather than the usual I-5 route. I’m fascinated by these hills and canyons and always so torn between the desire to get home and wanting to stop every mile or so along Cache Creek just to explore. I didn’t realize until later that I’d stopped at […]

Read More →

California’s Petrified Forest

The Petrified Forest located in Calistoga could scarcely be more different from the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona. This lovely spot in Napa County is relatively small, with shaded paths and spring wildflowers, and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit last month — and would have lingered there even longer if possible. Yet I have to admit that, although the […]

Read More →

Spanish Flat

Spanish Flat on Lake Berryessa was extremely quiet on a warm day in mid April — very different to how I’m sure it will look now that summer is nearly here. It was great to explore this campground and fishing area before the crowds arrived.

Read More →

Hiking around

I don’t get outside and go hiking nearly as much as I should these days, but the good thing is that when I do go, I make sure to soak up every minute of the experience as much as possible. When I sit down at home and go through my photos, I can relive nearly every step of my path […]

Read More →

Animals with attitude

Note: This post contains NO snake pictures, although there are fence lizards and a couple of insects! The animals around us may be quietly going about the regular business of living, but sometimes it’s tough not to imagine a bit of an attitude in their posture or in the way they pause to check us out. I shot these images […]

Read More →

Cabin on the ridge

I’m not sure if we’ll ever return to this cabin up in the hills above Manchester, but it was definitely a stay I won’t forget for a long time! We faced a few minor frustrations here — adjusting to the lack of microwave, living off the electrical grid, dealing with cold, rainy weather — but all in all, this was […]

Read More →

September at Eagle Lake

Oh, look — I discovered another bunch of images from last year that I had completely forgotten about! I shot all but one of these with my beloved Fujifilm camera while exploring around the west shoreline of Eagle Lake, in the small community of Spalding (Google seems to think it’s “Spaulding”). I would love to go back and see what […]

Read More →