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Distancing Pt. II: A Weekend Around Mount Shasta
Unsettled weather over Mount Shasta defined the unsettling last week. These are strange days we are living through. The world is shutting down for a time, people are uncertain and aspects of hardship...
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Northern California Review: Thousand Lakes Wilderness
Everett Lake in the Thousand Lakes Wilderness. Mention of the California Cascades naturally bring to mind two great landmarks: Mount Shasta and Lassen Volcanic National Park. The former is a singular,...
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Mount Shasta Social Distancing Hikes Part I: Waterfalls
Faery Falls, in lush Ney Springs Canyon. We find ourselves in a strange limbo, quarantined and socially distant, for the sake of the community keeping our distance from our families, friends and...
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Distancing Pt. III: Another Week Around Mount Shasta
Spring alpenglow on Mount Shasta. The last week here in Mount Shasta has been an odd brew of beautiful, boring and wintry conditions. We had some clear, warm days followed by some rain and snow. It...
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The Remarkable Resilience Of Mount Shasta’s Easter Lenticular
The lenticular begins to reform over Mount Shasta. This past Easter the sky over Mount Shasta saw some significant meteorological activity that yielded two spectacular sunsets and a beautiful sunrise....
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Distancing Pt. IV: Mount Shasta and Waterfalls
The last light of Easter Sunday fades on Mount Shasta. Another week of the Great Hunkering here in Mount Shasta and another week of getting my kids out exploring. The weather could not have been...
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Mount Shasta, Luminous At Sunrise
Mount Shasta glows in the early light of an April sunrise. While the Great Hunkering continues, I distanced myself from everyone by heading up to the Castle Lake area before dawn. Based on the weather...
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Cement Banks And Flooding Rivers: A Quick Look At The Geology Of The...
An awesome view of the confluence of Deer Creek and the Sacramento River. The Upper Sacramento River is that part of the river that lies above Shasta Lake. This section of the river is vigorous and...
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A Great Sunrise From Mount Shasta’s South Side
Friday morning sunrise on Mount Shasta. I am about to take off and head up to China Mountain right now so I am going to keep this short. Spring has proven to excellent this year and it was another...
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Distancing Pt. V: More Mount Shasta And More Waterfalls
A glowing April sunrise on Mount Shasta. It’s been another great week (plus) here in Mount Shasta and the weather and conditions in the mountains keep improving. The snow is really starting to melt...
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Distancing Pt. VI: May In Mount Shasta / The End
A spectacular May morning on Mount Shasta. It’s hard to believe I haven’t posted anything in May. The month has been incredibly busy, both with work and play. With one blip of rainy/snowy weather, the...
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Parks Creek Sunset
Last night I took my family up to Tamarack Creek for a picnic dinner. We set up camp in a beautiful meadow, right near the creek and made Frito Pie, a classic southwestern treat that is popular with my...
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Looking Back On The Last Lenticular Cloud Season
Now that we are in June, the typical season for lenticular clouds has come to an end. From October through May (and May, just barely in most years) Mount Shasta has a tendency to create spectacular...
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Yosemite Week: Glacier Point Sunset And An Eerily Empty Park
The Echo Peaks and Clouds Rest compliment the incomparable Half Dome. I got back from Yosemite a week ago and, as usual, I have yet to shake that incredible place from my mind. Consequently, I have...
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Mount Shasta Fades Into Stars
Summer sunset at Mount Shasta. A lot of focus has been on the stars lately, much of it due to the comet NEOWISE passing near earth. It has been a few years since a comet like that has been visible to...
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Yosemite Week: Yosemite Valley Waterfall Catalog
Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls. While I did not grow up literally in Yosemite, it was an integral part of my childhood and my family history. We were there frequently and over the years, I got to know...
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Yosemite Week: Yosemite Lost? Areas Lost To Yosemite By The 1906 Realignment
Sunset over the Minarets, once a part of Yosemite. It seems likely that whenever Yosemite is thought of today, we assume that it exists now as if it were established that way. The boundaries are what...
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Yosemite Week: My Two Favorite Places In Yosemite
Granite spires of the Cathedral Range tower of the Tuolumne River. I love all the trails in Yosemite (except the climb out of Pate Valley. I do not like that trail.) but it turns out that my two...
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Yosemite Week: The Waterfalls Of Hetch Hetchy (And The Curious Case Of...
Tueeulala and Wapama Falls grace the northern walls of Hetch Hetchy. I first became aware of Hetch Hetchy in 1990. It is the only year I haven’t camped in Yosemite Valley. We were kept out because...
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Yosemite Week: A Personal Perspective
A favorite spot: Upper and Lower Yosemite Falls as seen from the lower reaches of Yosemite Creek. I love writing about the various aspects of mountains, wilderness, hiking and all the topics that...
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