Scenic Sunday
Lake houses
I do have a certain weakness for before-and-after photos, but most of the time when I’m hiking around I don’t purposely try to create them. I’ll admit though that when I returned to Sweetwater Creek with the Big Guy in late October I was curious to see how a couple of driftwood shelters I remembered from four years earlier had […]
Monte Vista Loop Trail
It’s been awhile since I hiked the Monte Vista Loop, and we picked a day that was pretty much perfect. It had rained overnight, so there was enough lingering dampness to keep down the dust and prevent the burs and foxtails from being too bothersome. I also didn’t intend to hike the full 3-mile loop, but there was so much […]
Art and artifacts
A look back to some of the items I saw while exploring the Grace Hudson Museum in Ukiah, March 2023. If you are ever in this part of Sonoma County, I highly recommend visiting this small but very wonderful museum. The gardens are lovely and contain the Craftsman-style Sun House. I had never heard of Grace Hudson before stumbling upon […]
Beyond the deer gates
Here is the Deer Gate I promised you yesterday; when I first saw it I was reminded of something from an African game preserve or Jurassic Park. But of course with all the gorgeous flowers in the eastern part of the grounds it’s understandable that protection from curious/hungry deer is a good idea. And while I really enjoyed myself wandering […]
To the mountain top
As I trudged up the trail at Mt. Konocti one day last May, more than a few times I had to remind myself that I had chosen to be there and that I was actually having FUN! It shouldn’t be too surprising that climbing to Buckingham Peak (3,952 feet/1,204 meters) is hard work; for me, at least, it’s one of […]
Napa County daytrip
Here is another look back to photos from earlier this year — this time my visit to the Petrified Forest near Calistoga in late May. I drove about 1½ hours from where we were staying on the northeast shore of Clear Lake, taking Highway 29 south toward Calistoga. While it was kind of a long drive, the trip was fun […]
Spring on the South Fork
Now that the end of summer is approaching, April seems like a lifetime ago! Here are a few shots from my late April hike along the Darrington Trail on the South Fork of the American River, near the Salmon Falls bridge.
The Adventure Continues… California Communities: Napa
These days you’ll find a lot of vineyards in other parts of California, but Napa is still a strong wine-producing region. Still, as Huell has said, there’s so much more to this beautiful Northern California county. I’ve never spent much time in the Napa Valley, but my short visit to the Calistoga area last May was a super fun experience. […]