I have some great childhood memories of exploring tidepools along the Northern California coast, but it’s been ages since I had the chance to repeat the experience. Not long ago I happened to read an article about tidepooling at Gerstle Cove, so on our most recent coastal trip I was determined to climb around and spot a few sea anemones. […]
As I hiked along this unknown trail, following the Big Guy through the Kruse Rhododendron Preserve, I suddenly realized that the batteries in my trusty Finepix AX were about to die. I had decided to leave my two other cameras in the car, preferring to travel light this time; and although I had spare batteries for the Fuji, they were […]
On Monday I showed you some images of the Cascade Range in central Washington State; today, we have a look at the area around Mount Lassen, which is at the southern end of the Cascades and the northern end of the Sierra Nevada. I’ve never explored this part of Northern California, and until I watched this episode of California’s Golden […]
Wednesday morning saw a brief lull in the gusty winds along the coast, and I walked from our motel to the cliffs above Timber Cove. Long ago we would climb down to this rocky shore to fish for perch in the surf, but now the Big Guy prefers trying for rock fish in deeper waters. During our stay this week […]
Last week on Tuesday afternoon we were restless in our little Sonoma coast motel room and looking for a place to get away from the gusty winds — Kruse Rhododendron Reserve turned out to be the perfect spot! We’ve passed by this hidden treasure so many times and never fully appreciated it; but I think we’re finally beginning to realize […]
Over at the coast, I saw (and heard) quite a lot of Song Sparrows chirping brightly amid the shrubby areas near sea cliffs. Even a foggy morning didn’t slow them down; it was fun watching them busily foraging and throwing back their heads to sing their songs.
I’ve shared photos of tafoni before, but there are so many incredible variations that I never get tired of looking at them. Portions of Salt Point State Park (including the area of Gerstle Cove) are fairly covered in tafoni. I sometimes find it hard to tear my eyes away from these natural works of art long enough to enjoy the […]
These are just a few of the animals we’ve spotted lately in and around Gerstle Cove.
I should know better by now. Every week as I look through the list of titles in the Huell Howser archive, I have a tendency to skip over many of the place names that are unfamiliar to me. For some reason, I’ve assumed most of them were located in Southern California — so the chances that I had ever been […]