I always find a strange beauty in the enormous granite outcroppings arising out of the earth around the area of Folsom Lake. According to one source (PDF link), the Folsom granite is about 128 million years old; I grew up seeing large granite rocks like these all over the Sierra foothills, so they are both familiar and mysterious to me. […]
Indian summer at Folsom Lake. Hiking from the Doton’s Point parking lot at Granite Bay, you can literally get lost in the tangle of intersecting trails climbing over and between huge granite outcrops to the top of the ridge. Once you arrive at the highest point, enjoy the view! Because you’re definitely going to get confused again, trying to find […]
We came across this quiet little lake at Malakoff Diggins State Park, and naturally the Big Guy couldn’t leave without making a few casts! I had time to explore most of the way around the edge of the water while he focused on the fish. Although there were plenty of bass and bluegill to be seen, they turned up their […]
We discovered the Hiller Tunnel at Malakoff Diggins State Park purely by accident, after we had already hiked most of the Diggins Loop trail and were hot, thirsty, and tired. Our main interest at that point was in getting back to the car for lunch — but once we noticed the sign, we didn’t hesitate before turning off the main […]
This morning I ventured out to the dredger tailings on Mississippi Bar hoping to spot some deer. Although I did manage to catch a glimpse of a buck and a few does, none stuck around long enough for me to point my camera at them. So instead I found myself exploring a dry creekbed that runs through the tailings. The […]
This was a section of trail I had been hoping to hike on our previous visit to Salt Point State Park in September 2019. During that trip I found a book in our rental house, The Hiker’s Hip Pocket Guide to Sonoma County, and took a few quick notes, which I’ve quoted below. Although, as I said in yesterday’s post, […]
We spent a few days at the coast back in early September, and one afternoon our explorations took us along a quiet trail north of Stump Beach to Chinese Gulch. I’ve already shared a few of my photos from that hike, but there was so much more. Not too long after we crossed the wooden bridge, we found the trail […]
Here are a few more images from our trip to Malakoff Diggins State Park this week.