We decided to venture a little bit further north on this coastal trip, to southern Mendocino County. As our base, we chose a small but comfy Airbnb not far north of the Arena Point Pier, with easy walking access to the Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands — perfect for early morning hikes. The Big Guy was searching for some new fishing […]
It’s been more than a year since I last hiked in this area on the south bank of the American River in Folsom, and I had been meaning to come back long before this. Partly because it’s within walking distance of my house; and partly because I was very curious to locate a mysterious hole in the rocks I had […]
I was surprised to spot this ground squirrel perched high above me on the rocks, mostly because his position left him very vulnerable to any hungry bird of prey who might come along. But the amazing view must have been well worth the risk — at least to judge from his body language and the parade of expressions marching across […]
The final installment of my mineral posts has taken awhile to get here, and it took me a fair bit of digging (no pun intended!) to find more information about the featured rocks. Whatever I did find initially seemed to come from either Wikipedia — quoting scientific sources that I struggled to understand — or alternative health websites focused on […]
It was an extremely windy spot on the Sonoma coast in Salt Point State Park, just north of Gerstle Cove, and I had the place mostly to myself as I clambered over the rocks trying to get a peek into some tide pools. I chose not to climb down too close to where the tide washed in, so my tide […]
Climbing over and around the rocks near Gerstle Cove (in Salt Point State Park), I may not have been able to access the tide pools, but I still found a lot of interesting sights and enough beauty all around to keep me busy with my camera. This state park is named Salt Point for a reason! Below is just an […]
I’ve never been all that interested in learning about rocks and minerals, but after watching this episode of California’s Golden Parks, I’m seriously thinking about a road trip to Mariposa to get a closer look at this particular collection. I had no idea that California has not only an official state rock but also a state mineral, a state gemstone, […]
I’ve shared photos of tafoni before, but there are so many incredible variations that I never get tired of looking at them. Portions of Salt Point State Park (including the area of Gerstle Cove) are fairly covered in tafoni. I sometimes find it hard to tear my eyes away from these natural works of art long enough to enjoy the […]
Hiking the Pioneer Express Trail from the parking lot at Sterling Pointe Equestrian Staging Area is a seriously up-and-down experience. There are some great views of Folsom Lake — but this time of the year, you’ll be too busy avoiding poison oak, watching swallowtail butterflies, and navigating up and down the horse-sized changes in altitude to notice the view. No […]