Down by the river side

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 […]

Read More →

More from Mendocino Woodlands

I wrote about a month ago about our forest hike along the Big River in Mendocino County. here are a few more of the photos I shot on that outing. Even though at the time we weren’t sure exactly where we were or where our chosen trail was taking us, we had a great time and the scenery was really […]

Read More →

Hidden history in Rocklin

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 […]

Read More →

Hiding in plain sight

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. […]

Read More →

Kelsey Creek boardwalk

Even though the boardwalk along Kelsey Creek in Clear Lake State Park didn’t take me where I had been hoping to go, I really couldn’t complain as I turned around to retrace my steps. Unlike in a dry year, much of the shoreline was flooded; the views were fairly stunning; and I saw more birds up close here than anywhere […]

Read More →

High tide at Moat Creek

September 2022 — I had come to the Moat Creek coastal access point, just south of the town of Point Arena in Mendocino County, hoping to explore the tide pools. Since I found high tide covering the area where I had hoped to poke around, all I could do was look about for some other cool details. And it wasn’t […]

Read More →

Throwback Thursday: Historical monuments

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 […]

Read More →

Throwback Thursday: Clear Lake State Park

I have fond memories of Clear Lake going back to my childhood, when family car trips to Fort Bragg on the Mendocino coast meant traveling along the lake’s eastern shoreline (and occasionally stopping at the Foster’s Freeze in Lucerne, which is still there). Of course, Clear Lake, a very large natural lake, has many, many facets and even now I’ve […]

Read More →

Mendocino, at random

Mendocino may be a fairly small village, but it’s seriously packed with historic buildings, numerous water towers, and so many small details that even without stopping to do any shopping — okay, well, much shopping — I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of amazing finds. In this series of images, I’ve focused on a relatively small area that […]

Read More →