Last weekend camping in the Lakes Basin Region in the North Sierras I cam across this fungi that was sweating a watery liquid (no, I did not sample it …) and found a camouflaged insect with giant antenna hunting beside it. All happening silently beside a superb, deserted lake.

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About 5 years ago I decided to stop watching local news because of the paucity of news that is actually covered. Lately I’ve been skipping local print news outlets as well. So though I knew about the rampant numbers of wildfires in California, I knew very little. I’ll sheepishly admit I did not even realize [...]

I just learned today. I’m usually pretty keen into places and their history, but in a conversation with Robert Scoble today I realized I didn’t know. He did.
Here’s a picture from Mountain View to give you a guess

First correct answer gets a Dogster or Catster shirt of your choice!

When you were a kid did you ever see one of these illustrated maps of the United States … and want to walk into it. I daydreamed I could. The giggling marlins and dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico seemed as exotic as aliens yet as welcoming as old friend. I had never been south [...]

Northern California nurtures a wealth of blue and purple blossoms (a phenomena that has led me in fruitless queries for some geographical or meteorological explanation), but my favorite is the Pride of Madeira (Echium candicans).
A migrant from the Portuguese island of Madeira off the coast of NW Africa, once a specimen establishes itself, the [...]

[Please note: this photo has nothing to do with the newly spotted wolverine living in the Tahoe National Forest. It's simply included here because the jubilant character is yelling out the word 'WOLVERINES' in this scene from the rather so-so 1980s movie, Red Dawn, which I simply could not resist including in this entry.]
So let’s [...]

Earlier this month Molly and I hiked into the Shasta Trinity Alps.
Here’s a close-up of a picture I took of a young Golden Eagle that came hunting circling by while I had my camera out. It was magnificent.

The raptor’s wing tip fingers and the tail fan were amazing.

Greg is going to summit the 14,252′ White Mountain this summer and said he was going to go looking for the Methuselah Tree.
I had never heard of the Methuselah Tree and was amazed to learn the oldest living organism on the planet is right here in California.
The Methuselah Tree is a bristlecone pine that [...]

Pictures from our favoritest nearby getaway, West Marin’s Tomales Bay and Point Reyes
It was an anniversary weekend so my apologies about the sap.

Molly made Beignets we ate on the porch looking for seals

Whales were spotted in these waters the next day

Moxie from the hot tub

Oysters from Drakes Farm. Just as superb as Hog Island

The [...]

Any snow enthusiast on the West Coast will not be surprised that this year’s snow pack in the Sierra Nevadas is far below average. In fact it’s only 38% of average, and the lowest overall accumulation in 29 years. I was up in the Tahoe area four times this winter. Three of those times [...]