On my previous visit to Rattlesnake Bar (April 20) I found a sea of purple lupine covering the exposed shoreline. Three weeks later, most of the lupine has died out. On this day, we arrived about 8:30 in the morning; the temperature was already warming up and there was very little breeze. The gusty north winds would arrive around 11 […]
The Empire Mine State Historic Park in Grass Valley, once the richest gold mining site in California (1850-1956), is also home to some very cool hiking trails. They provide a nice escape from some of the Valley heat, and along the way you may stumble across the remains of a number of smaller mines, some of which, like the Orleans […]
I explored the Oaks Nature Trail at Folsom Lake’s Peninsula Campground once before, last summer; even though this path is a bit more “civilized” than the dirt horse trails I usually like to wander, I still enjoyed myself a lot. And this time out was even better. Everything was much more green than during my summertime visit. I had a […]
A breezy day at a quiet spot on Folsom Lake. When I was able to tear myself away from admiring the flowers, I actually noticed a few birds too.
The California fan palm (Washingtonia filifera) was especially popular with developers and landscapers in my area during the 1950s and 1960s, and they can still be spotted thriving in some unexpected places even now. Not too surprising, since they typically live from 80 to 250 years, or even longer. It was hard to miss this lone pair growing along the […]
The waters of Folsom Lake may be at historically low levels this spring, but right now the shoreline that would normally be underwater is covered in something something even more beautiful. We found these purple lupine blanketing the ground at Rattlesnake Bar State Park on the north fork, but it seems to be blooming in profusion elsewhere on the lake […]
The disappointment of seeing ever-lower water levels at Folsom Lake on each successive visit is only just counterbalanced by the abundant wildflowers and the fact that, so far at least, everything looks very green and fresh. Now is the best time to get out hiking, before everything dries up and the temperatures start climbing beyond the magical springtime range into […]
This colorful sparrow is a new discovery for me, although they seem to live in the area year round. Both the male and female have similar markings. I found these while hiking around Peninsula Campground on the east shore of Folsom Lake.
It takes roughly an hour to make the long, winding drive from our house out to Peninsula Campground at Folsom Lake, although sometimes it feels more like half the day. The last 11.5 miles take you along a twisting one-lane road full of blind corners; I’ve had more than one close call when someone came rocketing toward me, using the […]