Highway 168 Western Sierra Slope

I delivered a car to Florence lake for a friend who is backpacking from Reds Meadow. I had never been up the western side of the Sierra before. Holy crap there is a lot of granite that starts just outside of Fresno. I thought we had it good up here with Sugarloaf, Phantom Spires and Lovers Leap. There's climbing everywhere down there. I think I need to get down there with the rope and spend some time.

And hot springs too. There are several concrete tubs and dammed up pools for your soaking pleasure on public land at mono hot springs.

Again, no camera. I think I lost it.

The Sweetwater Mountain Range

There is a little mountain range just East of the Sierra North of Bridgeport that is just a fantastic place to go and explore. Ghost towns, old mines, and large stands of Aspen just waiting to be seen in the Fall. These are just a few of the draws to this little visited region. If you can make it up to the top of 11,667' Mt Patterson on a clear day you will be rewarded with one of the best views of the Northern Sierra from Matterhorn Peak to the Tahoe area.

If you do decide to go up Mt Patterson, be prepared to walk or have a small 4wd vehicle to make some tight hairpin curves on the side of a mountain face. With my 4runner I had to back up a few times to make a couple of turns. Don't mess up here, there's no forgiveness if you go over the edge.

I just spent a weekend there and I forgot the camera. Go and explore.

Fern Canyon and Big Lagoon Camping

Spent the weekend camping on the North Coast up in Humboldt County. Even though it was a summer weekend, we made no prior campground reservations. My plan was to see if we could get a spot at Golds Bluffs Beach campground. Of course it was full by the time we rolled around on Friday evening. Which was a good thing, because we found a small county park that allowed camping that was much better. Big Lagoon Campground. This place was great. Where Gold Bluff's campground is situated on the sand with no tree cover, Big Lagoon's campsites are tucked comfortably inside the tree line and out of the sand. Yet you are still so close the the ocean that at it is so loud and the surf so powerful that you can almost feel the ground shake as the waves hit.




Earthquake!!! Living in California you get your fair share of shakes. There have only been a few times where I have been concerned. This was one of them. Driving along the coast you see quite a few tsunami warning signs. So it's in the back of your mind, at least mine. Well around 10 or 11 at night the ground starts shaking. I wake up dreaming I'm on a waterbed and my wife is freaking out. "Did you feel that?" Yeah, I did. Now I'm listening for the ocean. I'm thinking tsunami, and my wife tells me later the She is thinking tsunami, but neither of us say anything. I want to get out of there, but I don't hear anyone else packing up or hear any warnings going off, so I nervously fall back to sleep with the waves not so comforting now.

Desert Southwest Tour March 17-24

I just spent 8 perfect days exploring the geological wonders of the American Southwest. I was lucky enough to share this adventure with my 4 brothers and our 91 year old Grandfather. Grand Canyon, Mesa Verde, Monument Valley, these are just some of the outstanding places we visited and explored.

California Coast

Made a quick weekend trip to the California coastal towns of Mendecino, and Ft. Bragg. Saturday we spent the morning hiking through a small grove of stately Redwood trees before spending the afternoon in Mendecino. I tell you there is nothing like walking through the living cathedral that is a Rewood grove, with its plush fern covered floor lit by gently filtered sunlight falling in quiet shafts of yellow. It's hard to leave such a peaceful place, but on we went following the winding Lowgap road on towards the coast.

That evening we made our way up the scenic Highway 1 to Ft.Bragg where we watched the sunset over the ocean and enjoyed a nice meal at the North Coast Brewery.