One day during our stay in Nice last month, the Big Guy suggested that I drive around to the opposite side of Clear Lake and explore the trails at Clear Lake State Park. I’d been to the state park a few times in the past but only to launch the boat and go fishing. He was convinced that I’d find […]
I took yet another trip out to Secret Ravine the other day, and this time I brought along the Big Guy so he could check out the pond. Although there were plenty of signs of use — a little bit of trash, footprints and bike tire tracks — we had the place entirely to ourselves as we explored the trails.
Each spring when I visit Clear Lake I normally can’t wait to head out to Rodman Slough Park for a look at the ospreys there. This year, for a change, I decided I’d focus less on ospreys in favor of other stuff. Yet somehow this year I ended up with more osprey photos than ever before. I’m still not quite […]
Secret Ravine is not actually a river but a somewhat seasonal creek running through southern Placer County. It’s connected to Miner’s Ravine and, eventually, to Dry Creek (formerly Linda Creek), a smaller tributary of the Sacramento River. It’s not necessary to know all this, however, to be able to enjoy a quiet morning in the shade beside the creek, listening […]
I’ve driven past Berryessa’s Monticello Dam quite a few times on the way to other destinations and often wished I could take the time to stop. Finally, driving home from Clear Lake and on my own, I pulled over and took a look around. It was a beautiful but breezy Friday afternoon. While I still intend to go back some […]
Looks like the end of the road — and it is actually an extremely short section of paved bike path that comes from nowhere and leads nowhere, at least for now. But I had searched out this spot after noticing what looked like a couple of old quarries on Google Maps, and when I arrived, I wasn’t disappointed. Well, maybe […]
About a month ago, I discovered an amazing undeveloped green space along the border between Roseville and Rocklin completely by accident; and once the rainstorms finally let up I was able to get out and do some exploring. As I wandered the many trails that crisscross the area I was reminded of the pre-development landscape near Whitney Oaks in Rocklin. […]
Back in March 2020 I published a post (Written in Stones) in which I mentioned that I would love to travel around the state photographing California Historical Markers. I’ve definitely shot quite a number of them over the years, but I’m still not able to make this a full-time project. When I recently came across a book titled California Historical […]
When we visited Mendocino back in May 2022, the waters off the headlands might have been described as a sort of milky turquoise blue. Ten months later, the color of the ocean was closer to pewter — at least on this particular afternoon. I had only a short amount of time to say my goodbyes to the sea before we […]