California Journeys
Explorations in Northern California.
2023
2023 Continental Expedition Begins
Finally, I’m on the road. I launched at about 3pm last Monday, driving through Ramona and Santa Ysabel, then dropping into the Borrego Valley down Montezuma Pass. It is one…
2022
2022 Expedition in Review
On February 27, I left San Diego on what turned out to be a 16,000 mile tour of western North America that lasted 7½ months. I began with a slow…
2022-03-24 Crescent City Again
I spent ten days in Medford (Oregon), addressing minor upgrades to the RV, spinning the most recent yarns about my trip. During this time I enjoyed the company of my…
2022-03-13 Crescent City to the Collier Tunnel
Citizens Dock and the boat basin in Crescent City’s harbor have provided me with many productive bird meetings in my past travels through this region. During my past visits to…
2022-03-11 Eureka to the Klamath River Mouth
Departing from Eureka, I headed north on US-101. On my way, I stopped to investigate a location I found on my maps just eight miles north, called the Arcada Bird…
2022-03-09&10 Into Redwood Country
Since my last entry in this month’s journal, I have had two amazing stops in Point Reyes and in Bodega Bay. As I pen these words, this morning I am…
2022-03-06 A Few Hours At Bodega Bay
Bodega Bay is only 34 miles from my Point Reyes Camp near Point Reyes. Years ago I stopped at The Tides Restaurant and enjoyed their good food and a ring-side…
2022-03-04 Point Reyes
After driving all day up the coast and through San Francisco, Friday afternoon I pulled into Olema and booked into the RV Park there. Having driven all day from Carmel…
2022-03-04 Friday at Piedras Blancas
I left San Simeon early Friday morning and spent several hours at Piedras Blancas watching Northern Elephant Seals and the turbulent waters of the Pacific Ocean. In years past, I’ve…
2022-03-02 Wednesday At Morro Bay
From the beginning to the end, yesterday went swimmingly. I began my fun by driving from San Luis Obispo on Los Osos Valley Road, a route I’d not traveled before.…
2022-02-28 Monday At Avila Beach and the Port San Luis Pier
Eager to get on the road after months of preparation, and not wanting to face Los Angeles traffic on a weekday, I left my Poway home early Sunday evening and…
2020
2020-10-17 First Stop, Dirty Socks Spring
On Saturday morning, I hit the road to Idaho after getting breakfast at my favorite Poway restaurant. I got the oil changed in the RV and the generator, and I…
2020-05-28 Cattle Call Brawley
After leaving Arivaca Wednesday morning I drove a rural route through Ajo and Gila Bend to Yuma where I spent the night. Thursday morning after having breakfast I launched the…
2019
2019-08-20 Tuesday On The Shores Of Mono Lake
I compare my favorite method for image collection to that of the Great Blue Heron. While the Snowy Egret dances in the shallows to chase prey out of hiding, the…
2019-08-12 Eureka and Points South
… and then it happened. My stay in Crescent City was a good one. The harbor had been especially rewarding. I enjoyed the birds I met, and the weather was…
2019-08-12 Day Two in Crescent City
Time to wave goodbye to Crescent City and get moving south again. I expanded my awareness of the surrounding coastline yesterday, but still the harbor drew me back. It was…
2019-08-10 Crescent City
I only made it about 20 miles south out of Brookings yesterday, and I landed in Crescent City. I’ve always found this city’s Boat Basin to be a good place…
2019-08-09 Brookings and the Smith River Mouth
On this Friday I drove from Medford Oregon to Brookings Oregon southwest along US-199 into California and then north on US-101 back into Oregon. US-199 starts in the Rogue Valley…
2019-07-31 Colusa NWR
When I broke my Nacimiento-Ferguson camp, I knew I was in for a long drive north in the Samurai. The rest of the drive this day would be neither scenic…
2019-07-29 Piedras Blancas Oystercatchers
I had a lovely visit with my cousin Bill and his wife Carolynn. I’ve been keeping in touch with Bill through email and Facebook, but we hadn’t met up for…
2019-07-29 Morro Bay
After my meeting with the Guillemot in San Luis Obispo, I continued my push to Morro Bay a few miles north, and I found suitable quarters to shelter me from…
2019-07-28 San Luis Obisbo Guillemot
I had business to attend that required me to travel to Oregon. When I was planning my route north and decided to drive the central coast road, I used the…
2019-01-26 Merced National Wildlife Reserve
After spending the week with my family in Medford, I drove away on Friday, southbound on I-5. My first stop was in Marysville California to visit a friend I knew…
2019-01-21 Sacramento and Colusa Refuges
Driving to see my family in Oregon, I took a little timeout to visit the reserves between Williams and Willows California (USA). The long interstate drive wore me down, especially the…
2017
2017-09-20 Santa Barbara and Home
I arrived in Santa Barbara on Monday and made my way to my friend Peter’s home, where I spent Monday and Tuesday nights. Monday evening was arranged for all my…
2017-09-17 Sunday in Morro Bay
It was a big day in Morro Bay Sunday. I found otters at their usual place at the upper end of the harbor. To my delight, there were two babies…
2017-09-16 San Simeon and North
(as far north as I could go) I drove all day Friday. It was the longest day single day of driving for this entire trip (368 miles). I left early…
2017-09-15 Sacramento Valley Trifecta
Sacramento NWR, Colusa NWR, Gray Lodge Wildlife Area The Sacramento NWR mostly had puddle ducks, with a few Raptors and herons. They have not flooded the fields, yet it looks…
2017-09-12 Crescent City To Klamath River
I drove south to Crescent City Monday afternoon and scouted the harbor for bird possibilities. The light from the west swayed me from any inclination to take photographs. Tuesday morning…
2017-07-19&20 Heading Home From The Sierras
Leaving June Lakes yesterday, I found a road I’d not travelled before. I’d been to Mono Mills on CA-120 East, but never further. The route from US-395 to Benton is…
2017-07-18 Twin Lakes Mammoth, Round Two
My plan for this day was to head out to the end of Lake Mary Road in Mammoth. There were several locations nearby where I thought I might find the…
2017-07-16 Mammoth Lakes Birds
Mammoth Creek connects a string of high elevation lakes in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. Starting above Skelton Lake (9,920′), it drains into Arrowhead Lake (9,690′), Lake Mary (8,920’), Lake Mamie…
2017-07-15 Tioga Pass And “Common” Birds
June Lake, where I’ve been staying with friends, is a short drive to many great bird locations and abundant first rate scenery. Tioga Pass is the east gate to Yosemite…
2017-07-12 Sonora Pass And Beyond
At 9623 feet, Sonora Pass is the second highest pass over the Sierras. I wanted to explore this area because I was told there was a store along the route…
2017-07-12 Bridgeport Reservoir
On leaving Mono Lake, my route north towards Sonora Pass carried me through the town of Bridgeport. Northeast of the town is a large shallow lake called Bridgeport Reservoir. I’d…
2017-07-12 Mono Lake Birds
This morning I headed toward Sonora Pass. California Route 108 traverses the Sierra Nevada range from the Gold Country on the west to the eastern Sierras near Bridgeport. The road…
2017-07-08 Woodpecker Chase
Saturday (7/8) I chased woodpeckers. My first stop was at Earthquake Fault just outside of downtown Mammoth. I’d been told I’d find Williamson’s Sapsuckers there, and I did. I also…
2017-07-07 and 09 Lower Rock Creek
Friday morning (7/7) I chased (but missed) my friend Steve Brad’s Indigo Bunting. He’d been visiting the region in the weeks prior to my departure. I’m reasonably certain I was…
Collisions In The Eastern Sierra
Later this week, I plan to drive north to visit friends and chase birds in the Eastern Sierras. I always enjoy travelling to the region, because of the spectacular scenery.…
2017-06-17~20 Cottonwood Springs (Part 2)
On my previous post I shared images of the players in the Rat Theater, but I also had some nice avian encounters during this expedition. Mockingbirds, Mourning Doves and House…
2017-06-17~20 Cottonwood Springs
From June 12th to the 20th, the San Diego Natural History Museum science team focused their mission on Cottonwood Springs and the Pinto Basin at the southeastern corner of Joshua…
2017 June in Joshua Tree National Park
My trip to Joshua Tree National Park was not without its surprises. I promised to wait one month before speaking of one of them, but there is a good reason…
2017-05-28 Red Hill At The Salton Sea
Travelling south after my expedition with the San Diego Natural History Museum to Horse Thief Springs (read more of that trip HERE) in the Mojave Desert, I could not bring myself…
2017-May At Horse Thief Springs
Horse Thief Springs on the northeastern flanks of the Kingston Mountains is one of the Joseph Grinnell restudy locations taken on by the San Diego Natural History Museum. The site…
2016
2016-05-08 Sunday In The Eastern Sierras
I had a big day taking pictures this day. It began when I reached Mono Lake’s western edge. I saw a flycatcher that flew off before I got my camera…
2016-05-06 Tule Lake
I’ve been waffling about which route would carry my homeward. One choice would drive me further east in Oregon before finding Highway 395 south. Such a path would add many…
2016-04-23 Saturday Carson City to Tule Lake
I learned yesterday that the flu that was being passed around in my nephew’s house has abated. I was purposefully progressing at a snail’s pace to give it time to…
2016-04-22 Friday’s Drive Through The Storm
I awoke at my campsite beside Crowley Lake this morning to a glorious sunrise. I showered and ate leftovers from two nights ago, and then took a quick spin to…
2016-04-21 Lone Pine and The Alabama Hills
I left Dirty Socks Spring for the short drive to Lone Pine. If museums are your thing, you’ll probably like Lone Pine’s Film History Museum. Once you’ve seen the Alabama…
2016-04-20 Dirty Socks Spring
2016-04-20 Wednesday The local birding community is well aware of Dirty Socks Spring. At the southern edge of the Owens Lake basin, it used to be a county park with…
2016-04-05 Heading North (Before I Go East)
On Friday 2016-03-11 I launched on a drive that would cover 2650 miles across 3 states. A visit to see my good friends in Bullhead City Arizona would complete the…
2015
2015-06-18 So Endeth The Journey
April 27, 2015 I departed my home in Poway for an expedition through eight western states, California to Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Oregon, and back down the coast…
2015-06-17 King City to Morro Bay
The reason I chose King City as my destination on the previous day was twofold. First, I planned to drive over the Santa Lucia Mountains to the Big Sur coast…
2015-06-16 Fort Ross to King City
I gathered the images displayed here during my drive from Fort Ross to King City. I got an early start out of Timber Cove and made my way down the…
2015-06-15 Eureka to Fort Ross
I gathered the images on display here while driving south from Eureka to Fort Ross via the Mattole Road in Humboldt County, California. The southbound Mattole Road leaves US-101 south…
2015-06-14 Oregon Into California
I made my goodbyes to my family the night before I left Southern Oregon, and I stopped in the town of Rogue River for breakfast. As with so many times…