This week I have slides from winter and summer, in two very different locations. First up, January 1981, when I took a quick trip with my mom and dad up to Post Falls, Idaho. We went to visit my grandpa; and although we only stayed for a couple of days, the whole journey was something of an adventure for me. […]
I got the chance to learn something about the all-too-brief lives of California Pipevine Swallowtails last Friday while hiking along the south fork of the American River at Folsom Lake. It was amazing how these beautiful butterflies were literally everywhere around me, on just about every wildflower. The California Pipevine is a rare subspecies of the Pipevine Swallowtail, found only […]
It’s hard not to fall in love with the gorgeous blue-sky spring weather we’ve had for the last couple of days — but I’m also sorry to say goodbye to those cool, grey days, or the ones with ever-changing gray and white cloud formations keeping the sky interesting and unpredictable. It was on such a gray, overcast mornings that I […]
It’s been nearly two years since I was able to visit Anderson Marsh at Clear Lake and walk the trails, and my visit last week offered a stark example of how even a slight change in weather patterns affects the plant and animal life in vital habitats like creeks and marshes. It looks like we may be heading back into another drought year — although I’m still remaining hopeful that our latest round of storms will help. On my previous visit, in May 2019, everything was fresh and green. The inlets of Cache Creek were full; I photographed turtles sunning themselves on logs and crawdads scurrying around underwater. This time, I found evidence of a recent prescribed burn and the inlets were parched and bare. I did see a good number of birds as I hiked along — including a pair of Valley Quail foraging along the sides of the dry creek bed.
We just returned home after spending the last few days at Clear Lake, California’s largest freshwater lake. There are so many beautiful hiking trails in the area, most of which I’ve never visited yet; I also enjoy revisiting favorite spots like Anderson Marsh State Historic Park at the south end of the lake and Rodman Slough, at the north end. […]
There’s a pretty nice entrance into Folsom Lake State Recreation Area at the eastern end of Horseshoe Bar Road (Placer County) — but only if you’re on foot. There’s no parking allowed along the road’s shoulder and no lot for cars. That’s why I had never actually seen this area until the day I hiked the two or so miles […]
When I go hiking and looking for pictures, animals and lovely scenery are usually on the top of my list of things to shoot. But no matter how great my “big” landscape images may come out, I always tend to feel something is missing unless I find that little extra something as well. What it might be varies from trip […]