Photojournal

Rolling on the River

2005-12-01T06:59:00.000-08:00

The view from the southern end of the Mendocino Headlands. This is looking back toward the Big River. The fog was thick this morning but the sky was clear a mile east into the valley.

Planned to take a canoe up river but otped instead for a mountain bike ride up the river trail.

Up a Lazy Creek

2005-11-30T10:09:00.000-08:00

One of the coolest wineries we saw on our trip to Mendocino was the Lazy Creek Winery in the Anderson Valley. It's a small family owned operation with some fantastic wines including a great Gewürztraminer and a Riesling. This winery is off the path a bit, but well worth a visit. You should call ahead first to make sure they are open for tastings.

I enjoyed wandering around the property and I saw some turtles in the big pond out back. This picture is of the old rusty truck that greets you when you park outside the tasting area.

Autumn Cab

2005-11-30T09:51:00.000-08:00

Some lovely grape clusters growing in the Alexander Valley near Cloverdale, California. These grapes will be used to make excellent Recerve Cabernet Savignon by the Clos Du Bois winery.

I actually picked a few small grapes from the vine and they were very tasty.

Russian River Wine

2005-11-30T09:37:00.000-08:00

Here's a shot of me sipping the great wines of the Lynmar Winery in the Russian River Valley. They had some excellent Chardonnays and Pinot Noirs.

Jonied this wine club and looking forward to my first shipment.

Bodega Bay Sand Castle

2005-11-30T09:22:00.000-08:00

Here's a close-up of a great sand castle that was built on the beach in Bodega Bay, California. It was very detailed and had stairs and many little portals. Each of the four sides was a different design and the architecture was amazing. There were no other castles on the beach, so it wasn't part of a contest. Just some sand craftsman plying his trade in the early morning hours.

We found out the next day that 4 people were swept out to sea and 3 drown on a beach just 6 miles north of here the same day this photo was taken. Really wierd. They say it was a "Sleeper Wave" that got them. Never turn your back on the ocean.

Beach Babe

2005-10-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

Here is a shot of our newest puppy on the beach in Oceanside. Her name is Kona.

Notice how there is no one on the beach? How did I do that in Socal (Southern California) during the day?

Well that's a secret location with access restricted to pass carrying personnel only. It's near Red Beach on Camp Pendleton and you need a base decal and a 4-wheel drive to reach it. On this day we only saw 6 other people (and 3 dogs) in a 2-hour span.

If you like to be out of the crowds, then this place is heaven.

Me and the dogs found a huge, rank-smelling sea lion that washed up on the beach a few hundred feet north of where this photo was taken. Not sure what might have killed him, but he was a giant animal and maybe it was old age.

Stock Photos

2005-08-05T09:15:00.000-07:00

I use stock photos in my work/art sometimes, and I've NEVER found a better price on High-Quality images than you can download from iStock photo! Even the best images are only $3 each.

So if you need some great images ( including some kiyotei snapshots) - surf on over to istockphoto.com.

Thanks. Your purchases will help support this blog!

Petting Zoo

2005-07-21T09:33:00.000-07:00

I took this photo of my granddaughter, Noelani, at the San Diego Wild Animal Park (which is really closer to Escondido than San Diego). This Petting Kraal is much more interesting now that they added some deer and antelope and it's not overrun with goats anymore.

Green Machine

2005-07-21T09:27:00.000-07:00

This rusty old truck sits atop a hill on a farm in Carlsbad, CA. I guess it has seen better days. This farm is quickly giving way to houses and probably won't be around in a few years.

Mating Rituals

2005-05-28T12:09:00.000-07:00

A beautiful peacock shakes his tail feathers as he fans out and makes annoying "meowing" sounds.

All around the Rancho de Los Kiotes (as Leo Carrilo named his ranch), the sounds of peacocks calling to hens can be heard. This peahen was not very impressed by the display.

Oh Pancho!

2005-05-28T11:55:00.000-07:00

This view is looking from the entry arch of the hacienda of Leo Carrilo's ranch in Carlsbad, California.

The interior is a colorful splash of bright red bougenvillas, cactus blooms and fuchsias.

As young kids, my brother and I loved the Saturday morning TV show called "The Cisco Kid." The original owner of this ranch played the part of Cicsco's loyal sidekick, Pancho. The television series was very popular in the 1950's and even many years later was seen on Saturday reruns. I guess he was already dead before we even saw the shows because he passed away in 1961. He bought the land and built this ranch in the late 1930s and it was not only a place to entertain his Hollywood friends, but also a bonified "working ranch" with cattle and horses.

It's now a historic park and is being restored to it's former condition.

Kokopelli Rests

2005-04-23T12:28:00.000-07:00

A close-up of the rock art found in Canyon de Chelly. The famous Kokopelli can be seen reclining here but still playing his flute. I have read that this may symbolize where a group of migrating people stopped to rest.

There are many handprints here (positive and negative) where some have dipped their hands in paints and marked a spot and others have blown pigment onto and around their hand to creative a negative print. Also seen here is a zig-zag symbol which may mean lightning or echoes.

2005-04-23T12:22:00.000-07:00

The Crystal waters of of the Little Colorado River flow slowly through Greer, deep in the White Mountains of Arizona. This spot is so small that it's more of a country hamlet than a town. Nothing much to do here today, so we had a beer in the local bar and watched ducks, geese and dogs frolic on the river's edge.

Ancient Condo Living

2005-04-23T12:17:00.000-07:00

The Kinishba ruins are a few miles away from the historic Fort Apache (of John Wayne fame).

It is the remains of a village built and occupied by ancestral Pueblo dwelling people between about AD. 1250 and AD. 1400. Kinishba is an anglicized Apache phrase that translates to brown house. According to Hopi elders, Kinishba may once have been called Ma'ip'ovi (place of the snake grass).

Read All About It

2005-04-23T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is a photograph of the excellent pictographs found scribbled on Newspaper Rock.

Rock Woody

2005-04-23T12:01:00.000-07:00

On the way to Canyon de Chelly, we took a trip through the Petrified Forest and I took this photo of some petrified wood lying below a formation known as the Teepees (which are large cone-shaped mounds of mudstone). This section of the Painted Desert lies along a volcanic rim with spectacular views of red-rock mesas and slopes.

Antelope House

2005-04-23T11:49:00.000-07:00

We took a guided Jeep tour in Canyon de Chelly (pronounced "De Shay"). The tour company was Canyon de Chelly Tours and I highly recommend their guides. These ruins are called Antelope House and is named after the rock art painted nearby.

Our Navaho Guide, Daniel, told us the colorful antelope artwork was added to the cliffs sometime around the 1830's by a Navaho artist named Little Lamb. The other art found here is much older and was left by the Anasazi people. The Swastika shown in this photo is actually an ancient native American symbol which could mean four seasons, four directions or an indicator of migrations. This area was the last stop on the The North Rim tour and is located at the point where Canyon del Muerto and Black Rock Canyon come together.

Painted Ladies on Parade

2005-03-31T13:44:00.000-08:00

This butterfly, known as a Painted Lady, landed on some shrubs near the Carlsbad Flower Fields for a sip of nectar on its way north from Baja to the desert. It is just one of millions heading north and expected to reach San Francisco and beyond before settling in.

They are eating along the way and laying eggs, so there should be another explosion of them in a few months. I first noticed them a few days ago when a dozen of them kamikazed into my car windshield as I was cruising down the freeway. At first I thought they were Monarch butterflies, but then I heard a story about them on NPR radio which described them as Painted Ladies.

Case in Point

2005-02-28T22:53:00.000-08:00

This view is looking across the east end of Maha'ulepu Beach near Punahoa Point. The wind was ferocious this day and the exposed cliffs have been endlessly battered by the elements here. Access to this area is controlled by a gate which is locked from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am each day and runs through a large property owned by Steve Case (of AOL fame). The west end is usually crowded on the weekends and is a favorite of the locals.

Bufo Toad Near Kipu Falls

2005-02-28T22:33:00.000-08:00

Almost every animal on the island is an invader and came from somewhere else. These toads are called Bufo or Cane toads and they came from Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican toads from Barbados, and the Barbados toads from Guyana. They are now spreading out over the Australian landscape.

The Forbidden Shark Shag

2005-02-28T22:13:00.000-08:00

Took a trip to Ni'ihau, The Forbidden Island, and took a short safari without guns. We got to drive around the island on the west, east and north sides in an army issue Jeep from 1942. There were no seats, only wooden planks with red dirt-stained cushions, but it was comfortable enough. Saw many wild sheep, horses, goats and pigs and the first stop after the helicopter dropped us at Keawanui Bay was an area known as Ki'i Landing. We were told that this was a shark mating area and they were definitely active in the waters near the shore.

Here is a close up shot of a shark in very shallow waters

We counted about eighteen sharks in all and they were approximately 4 to 5 feet in length. They were Grey Reef Sharks and are supposedly not very aggressive, but no one was going in the water to find out.

A school of sharks swimming in Ki'i Landing (looking toward Pueo Point)

Orange Fungi

2005-02-28T22:05:00.000-08:00

These orange mushrooms were growing on an old log near the Kilohana estate garden. Stopped here to ride in the horse carriage and snack on a pork sandwich.

Driftwood at the River's Edge

2005-02-28T21:55:00.000-08:00

Driftwood, coconuts, net floats and other assorted junk was piled high on the south side of the Wailua river near Lydgate Park in Kauai. This area has some interesting ruins (heiau) that were considered a "Place of Refuge" for the Hawaiian people in ancient times.

Koi Conjunction

2005-02-28T21:51:00.000-08:00

These colorful fish were in a frenzy the first time I passed by this bridge near the Tidepools restaurant in Poipu, Kauai. There were so many koi thrashing about that someone must have just fed the crazy carp.

Pictographs in Smuggler Canyon

2005-02-07T15:37:00.000-08:00

The pictographs found in this area are estimated to be 2-3 hundred years old. This style is unique to California and is often referred to as San Luis Rey style. Unlike the more common stick figures and animals found elsewhere, these designs are largely zig-zags, diamonds and chains.

There are several morteros and a dry waterfall a half mile down the canyon from these paintings. From the top of the falls, there is an excellent view of the Carrizo Valley, Coyote Mountains and Tierra Blanca.

Agave & Cactus

2005-02-07T15:25:00.000-08:00

This unusual combination of color is an agave plant growing over two small red-needled barrel cactus on the sand near a Kumayaay village.

The Kumeyaay people roasted the agave stalks in pits for up to three days and then the stalks were opened to extract a mollasses flavored food which was eaten or dried for future use.

Kumeyaay Morteros

2005-02-07T15:18:00.000-08:00

This view is looking down from a large boulder on to a collection of morteros (mortars carved into bedrock). These moteros were filled with seeds or plants and used to grind or crush the food for use by the Kumeyaay Indians.

This village and and many other sites in the Blair Valley are evidence of the thriving population of native Americans who lived in this area.

Ghost Mountain Hike

2005-02-07T14:58:00.000-08:00

Had a great weekend in the desert beginning with a hike up to the ruins of the Marshall South home on Ghost Mountain.

From 1930 to 1947, the eccentric poet, artist, and author named Marshal South and his family lived on this spot. Ghost Mountain is a remote, waterless mountaintop within the Anza-Borrego Desert in California. There is a lot of speculation about what went on during their stay on the mountain. Since their divorce in 1947, the three children and his ex-wife have been very secretive about their life in the desert. The walls have largely been destroyed but you can still see the catch basin and other cement structures they used to survive in the extreme climate.

Coyote Snacking

2005-01-30T19:32:00.000-08:00

Near Ranchita California, this trickster was just swallowing a mouse or gopher and rolling in the grass by the side of the highway. Stopped the Jeep and snapped a picture of the fun-loving critter before he turned and dashed off the field into some cover.

Bighorns in Culp Valley

2005-01-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Saw three Bighorn sheep walking down from the mountain off SR-22. This fellow decided to climb up on the rock and mug for the camera. "I'm ready for my close-up Mr. DeMille."

Wildflowers in Ocotillo Wells

2005-01-30T19:23:00.000-08:00

The recent rains produced a bumper crop of wildflowers in the desert including this field of color near Devil's Slide in the Ocotillo Wells Vehicular Recreation Area.

Hazy Beach Day

2005-01-22T09:54:00.000-08:00

I wanted to test out my new digital camera but it was very hazy at Tammarack beach yesterday afternoon. I purchased a JVC Everio and this is the first time since the holidays that I've had a chance to play with it. We've been getting some excellent waves lately and the water was packed with sufers. Most of the shots I took were kind of washed out looking but I did like the way the reflection of this bird came out. I think it is a Willet, but I couldn't say for sure. So if you are an Audubon Society expert, feel free to correctly identify this little fellow.

Flash Flood in the Wash

2005-01-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

I drove down this jeep trail for about 5 miles until it started raining hard. Since this trail is at the bottom of the Texas Dip (a mile wide, 100 foot deep channel), it is a prime area for flash floods. I decided to turn tail and get out of the wash before the water started flowing through. As I got back to the road it really started to rain and you can see the start of small streams just beginning to flow into the wash. This area was used in the filming of the movie Bugsy.

Borrego Springs Rainbow

2005-01-09T15:13:00.000-08:00

Took this photo of a rainbow in the early morning after a thunderstorm. We were staying at the La Casa del Zoro in Borrego Springs and took a short hike through this open area across the street from our room. You could actually see the other side of the arc farther to the southeast. Tried to find the pot of gold... but the rainbow disappeared on the approach.

Ocotillo Blooms

2005-01-08T13:50:00.000-08:00

Blooming ocotillo (pronounced o-co-tee-yo), whose spiney branches are 10 to 15 feet long. The plants usually look dead until rain falls when green leaves burst out of the wood tipped with bright red flowers. This plant was growing in abundance along the trail toward The Slot (along Borrego Mtn. Wash).

Rainclouds Near Palm Canyon

2005-01-08T13:41:00.000-08:00

The storm moves in and the clouds get thick above Palm Canyon campground (near the visitor's center). Average yearly rainfall is about 6 inches per year.

Hummingbird Spirit Helper

2005-01-08T13:15:00.000-08:00

We saw two types of hummingbirds on this trip. The one in this photo was a Costa's hummingbird and the other fellow was an Anna's hummingbird. The main diffence between them is color. The head and breast of the Costa's is purple and Anna's is red/fushia.

Anza-Borrego Desert Pix

2005-01-08T11:29:00.000-08:00

The Anticline in Fish Creek
Heading westward through the Split Mountain divide is a geologist's playground full of red dirt, giant rock formations and wind caves. The cliffs are chock full of ancient rocks. This rock and mud mixture is called fanglomerate and is approximately 20 million years old.

The best spot to observe the chaos is a place called the anticline where rock plates are stacked on top of each other and resemble stacks of crazy kitchen plates. You can see how the plates have been forced up and down by the weight on top of them and form a kind of arch in the cliff face.

The geology along this trail was beautifully described by the late Dr. Horace Paker in his Anza-Borrego guidebook. He wrote that: "Split Mountain's height and mass forms awesome patterns, constantly drawing one's eyes upward to search for new points of interest along the canyon's walls. Geologically speaking, Mother Nature went berserk mixing a potpourri of her many arts. There are granites and lava dikes, sandstones and mudstone, marine deposits and fresh-water deposits, anticlines and synclines, hanging walls and footwalls, fault zones and landslides, with igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks and combinations of each. And to top if off, she made a special plum pudding called Split Mountain fanglomerate, in which worn and rounded stones, like raisins, are embedded in a matrix of sandstone alluvium. To add a touch of humor, she liberally garnished the area with ridiculously formed sandstone concretions. Then she cut, sculptured, and tilted the entire mess into a rock-candy pattern of canyons, washes, and broad valleys."

I never get tired of this trail and you can actually leapfrog a series of trails from here (including Valecito Wash and Dos Cabezas Road) which will take you almost 50 miles south to Ocotillo. Be aware that a small section of this route will be through the challeging Diablo drop-off. This is a narrow slot with large wheel ruts and has a class five difficulty rating.