On the far side

Our cold gray January weather isn’t exactly motivating me to get outdoors and start moving; I’m already longing for warmer weather. But for some reason this morning I started thinking back to early last May and the week we spent in Napa County, west of Lake Berryessa. We were almost exactly equidistant from Clear Lake and Berryessa. I found the […]

Read More →

Picking up the pieces

It’s been awhile since I last posted anything, and I’m just now starting to recuperate from the craziness that was my Christmas and New Year’s. Highlights included a trip to Texas and the Big Guy spending a few days in the hospital there — thankfully, his usual state of health has returned! I realized this morning that I have quite […]

Read More →

Bluff Top Trail

I’ve stopped at the small Moat Creek parking area a number of times now, always to follow the short path to the shore. The site is just a bit south of the town of Point Arena, and the beach is popular with surfers (high tide) and with tide pool explorers (low tide). On this visit, I decided to check out […]

Read More →

October hike

I really have mixed feelings about hiking from the Sterling Pointe trailhead at Folsom Lake. On the plus side, parking is free and the lot is usually nearly empty whenever I go. It’s also a fairly easy hike downhill to the lakeshore with great scenic views and even a bench or two along the way. Once at the bottom, you […]

Read More →

Riparian habitat

I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I started the trail known as the Ecological Staircase at Mendocino County’s Jug Handle Reserve, but it turned out to be a really great hike — not too physically demanding and yet a decent workout. All the way out to the Pygmy Forest and back, it totals about 5 miles. After taking […]

Read More →

Bridges and boardwalks

If you’re traveling along coastal Highway 1 in Mendocino County, you will probably notice there are quite a number of different bridges crossing over creeks and rivers that flow into the Pacific Ocean. From south to north, the scenic artery crosses the Gualala River, Elk Creek, the Navarro River, the Albion River, the Big River, Jughandle Creek, and the Noyo […]

Read More →