To the sea
One of the creeks in the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands Unit. This 1,600-acre area in Mendocino County is the only land-based portion of the California Coastal Monument. Photos shot in September and November 2021.
Over the hill
There are a number of hiking and mountain biking trails in the area of Lagoon Valley Lake and the Peña Adobe. In my search to find a path toward Jack Hume Grove, I stumbled upon the Malaka Trail. It took me across a creek and up the side of a steep, oak-studded hill that sits right next to Interstate 80. […]
Bowling Ball Beach, by accident
Sadly, I didn’t get to see any of the rocks that gave this beach its name; and in fact we didn’t even really know where we were during our visit. Our intended destination was actually a spot named Schooner Gulch — but we took the wrong trail and wound up on the next beach to the north. A huge pile […]
The Adventure Continues… Half Dome
If you’re like me, it’s very likely you will never have the chance to climb to the top of Yosemite’s majestic Half Dome peak — but don’t worry, because Huell has already done it for us! This hour-long episode of California’s Gold has plenty of breath-taking scenery and moments to make us just a little bit envious, too. The hike […]
The upward trail
I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I arrived at the Browns Valley Open Space trailhead in Vacaville, although I did know there’s no actual parking lot and I would need to leave my car alongside the road. That really wasn’t a problem since traffic is fairly minimal. But I’ll admit I felt intimidated when I realized that once […]
Autumn river
Visiting the American River in Carmichael, October 2021.
Hiker at large
This week I did a couple of hikes at different sites to the north and west of Vacaville, California. One was the Brown’s Valley Open Space; the other was Lagoon Valley Park, just off I-80. Even though I normally prefer to hike in the cooler morning temperatures, I wound up cutting my exploration of the Brown’s Valley site very short […]
What lies beneath
Earlier this month I posted about the Dragon’s Nose at the Stornetta Public Lands near Point Arena and mentioned some “mysterious” holes we found there. It’s taken me awhile to get around to my followup post, partly because of a technical problem (more on that later). I’ve also been trying to find any documentation of these particular holes but so […]
Forest light
Afternoon sunlight spills through the branches of the massive coastal redwoods at the Muir Woods National Monument hiking trails, October 2021.