A couple of weeks ago, I shared my exploration of the vernal pools at Phoenix Park, not far from where I live; but there’s a much more expansive area of vernal pools a few miles farther down the road at the site of former Mather Air Force Base. I’ve never been out to the pools at Mather, but several years […]
It’s beautiful in photos and on film, and even more breathtaking in person. The Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle is unique and beautiful; and if you ever get a chance to visit the site, especially on a warm day, you may feel tempted to test the waters for yourself! Of course, that’s strictly forbidden — unless you happen to be […]
Recently I met a wonderful lady at the Roseville auction who was working as a volunteer to benefit The Last Wild Place mustang refuge in Nevada. She was passionate about her love for these beautiful horses and the need to give them a safe place to live and run free. I was thinking of her when I chose this episode […]
An exciting shipwreck story from the “Graveyard of the Pacific”; and members of the California Conservation Corps share their memories of helping restore one of the historic California Missions. Watch Huell as he embarks on a journey to the most dangerous spot on the California coast and find out why it is called “Devil’s Jaw”; then visit the jewel of […]
For the past month or so here in California, we can’t turn on the news without hearing people talking about water — water filling up reservoirs, overflowing rivers and creeks, covering roads and farmlands, and causing mudslides on the highways. It seems that water is one of those things we tend to take for granted, until we have too little […]
A week ago I took part in Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge themed Crawling or Flying; so when I noticed that this episode of California’s Gold had to do with things that crawl, I couldn’t resist sharing it! Join Huell and encounter the endangered kangaroo rat at Carrizo Plain Natural Area, considered the best example of the fragile ecosystem in the San […]
Trees of Mystery was absolutely one of my family’s favorite attractions when I was growing up, and even before I was born — see my previous posts, Memory Monday, Week 9 and Memory Monday, Week 10. It’s been decades now since I last visited the place, and it’s evolved and only gotten better (I’m seriously craving a ride on the […]
This episode is a “California’s Gold Classic,” and it’s one I’ve enjoyed quite a few times already. Even so, in re-watching it today I learned that the Bidwell Bar Bridge, constructed in 1856, was the first suspension bridge built west of the Mississippi River! It’s a great reminder that even though I live quite near the historic gold country there’s […]
If you’ve ever dreamed of living in a small town in the middle of a breathtaking landscape, you’ll enjoy Huell’s visit to Downieville, where the houses have no addresses and there are no traffic signals. Downieville was named after William Downie, a Scotsman who mined for gold in the area in 1849. And very little has changed in this tiny town, […]