January 6, 2021, was not a good day for the U.S.; but we knew nothing about the events occurring as we happily hiked from the trailhead at Sterling Pointe on Folsom’s north fork that morning. Parking is free and plentiful, with room for both cars and horse trailers. The trails can be a bit confusing, but in general if you […]
A week or so ago I shared some photos from an outing to Caples Lake near Kirkwood and Carson Pass, and today I have a few more scenes from that trip. There were quite a few images that I overlooked until going back through my archives recently, and I’m always very happy to find pictures I’ve forgotten about, sitting there […]
Colors, details, and wide vistas — all found on an autumn hike by the shore of Folsom Lake, on and around the Monte Vista Trail. I sometimes wish I could have seen this area before the building of Folsom Dam. It’s clearly very rich in history as well as plants and wildlife.
Anderson Marsh State Park remains one of my favorite spots to visit in Lake County, although I sometimes have trouble finding the perfect time to hike there. It seems that either the air is too hot and dry for a long march across the open grasslands or the ground is too muddy or even flooded for the trek out to […]
Back in mid June 2023 I shared a few photos from a day hike along the Bluestem Trail in Southlake, Texas. Despite wet weather and warm, humid conditions, I really enjoyed the trek because, although I had visited that part of the Dallas-Fort Worth area many times, I had never had the chance to do much exploring or hiking. As […]
When I arrived at my chosen trailhead on this mid November morning, the “steam” vapor was still rising at 10:30 a.m. I was eagerly looking forward to exploring an unknown path; I’d actually checked this spot out on an earlier trip but only managed to get a short way before time forced me to turn back. Today I had plenty […]
How is it possible that it’s been nearly three years since I last hiked at Doton’s Point, on Folsom Lake’s north fork? I can’t believe so much time could have passed already — but it was high time for me to get back out there. Or at least I thought so, until I arrived at Granite Bay and found Park […]
Standing atop the hill some half mile from the Falcon Crest parking area, I can look down toward Folsom Lake and see another path (Brown’s Ravine Trail) that meanders through a stand of pine trees. I’ve visited this spot several times over the past few years and it remains one of my favorite viewpoints; with impressive ridges rising 1200ft/365m both […]
It’s been awhile since I hiked the Monte Vista Loop, and we picked a day that was pretty much perfect. It had rained overnight, so there was enough lingering dampness to keep down the dust and prevent the burs and foxtails from being too bothersome. I also didn’t intend to hike the full 3-mile loop, but there was so much […]