This is another one of those episodes of California’s Gold that I could have sworn I’ve already featured. Mono Lake is certainly a fascinating, beautiful, and unique feature, one that I can’t say I’ve ever visited, but it’s definitely been in the news at various points throughout my lifetime, given the delicate nature of its ecosystem and the importance of […]
He didn’t have to look too hard to find all sorts of examples of life when Huell visited Death Valley National Park for the first time. This Classic episode of California’s Gold originally aired back in June 1995. I’ve previously featured an hour-long episode entitled “Springtime in Death Valley,” but it was filmed ten years later, in the spring of […]
In this California’s Gold Classic episode from early 1995 Huell takes a trip out to the Death Valley Ranch — better known as Scotty’s Castle. Even though I visited Death Valley with my family as a young child, I don’t have any memories of seeing this amazing mansion. I do have a memory, from a few years later, of spending […]
Two brief visits to the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona were definitely not enough to take in the entirety of this amazing place, but I’m grateful we were able to stop on our trip homeward to explore what we could. And I managed to tear my eyes away from the landscape long enough to notice some of the wildflowers. […]
A few days ago I happened to see an episode of the Science Channel show Mysteries of the Abandoned, and they had a segment about the Salton Sea and the ghost town of Bombay Beach. The story seemed vaguely familiar — and then I remembered that Huell had featured the area in a couple of different episodes. I’m pretty sure […]
One of the great things about watching Huell Howser was that he always loved listening to the stories of “old-timers” — people whose memories can still bring history alive and remind us that those old forgotten pieces of the past, like an empty field or some sun-bleached wooden boards, once formed an important part of everyday life. This episode of […]
If you’ve ever traveled through a desert, especially in the summertime, you know what a relief it can be to find a nice cool spot to get out of the car and stretch your legs, to get something cold to drink, or even just to cast your eyes on something besides a wide, flat expanse! In this 2008 episode of […]
Any time I can combine the beauty of nature with a bit of history and feats of engineering, I’m already interested. So this episode of California’s Gold is another of my favorites; and even though I’ve never visited Palm Springs in my life, after watching Huell riding the tram up Mt. San Jacinto I’m ready to go experience it for […]
The other day I just happened to catch a few minutes of the Science Channel’s show Impossible Engineering: Extreme Railroads and saw the Goat Canyon Trestle — I instantly remembered that I’d seen it before, in this episode of California’s Gold which first aired in 1999. The trestle, located within Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, is fairly hard to get to but […]