Moat Creek details

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 […]

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Mendocino beauty spots

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. […]

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Dry January

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 […]

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Peninsula in summer

Back in early August 2020, I ventured around to the far side of Folsom Lake to spend a couple of hours at Peninsula Campground. It’s a long, very winding road to get out beyond the private property signs to the state park gate, and in the summer when the water is low, you can look across a narrow stretch of […]

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More from Monte Vista

Today I present some images from a couple of different October hikes in the same area along the American River’s south fork at Folsom Lake. The vibrant hues of spring may have been long faded, but there was still plenty of color to be found — in the Yellow Monkeyflower with its bright red spots, the scarlet Toyon berries, and […]

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