Diggin the Clam Dig

The Coast Miwok people were the first to inhabit the coastal area of coves, beaches, tidal marshes, and forest of Bishop pines now known as Tomales Bay State Park, forty miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge. We visited Heart's Desire Beach which offers a nice sheltered cove and picnic grounds. There were plenty of clams for digging and plenty of other tidal creatures to explore.

“A beach is not only a sweep of sand, but shells of sea creatures, the sea glass, the seaweed, the incongruous objects washed up by the ocean.” – Henry Grunwald

Happy Times at Hetch Hetchy

In the northwest corner of Yosemite National Park there is a valley that John Muir described as “a wonderfully exact counterpart of the great Yosemite." The Hetch Hetchy Valley has changed of course since the times of John Muir and was dammed in 1923 and today a large blue reservoir covers the valley.The trail around the reservoir provides impressive views and waterfalls. We visited on a beautiful Jun-uary weekend. 

Wapama Falls

Kolano Rock

Hetch Hetchy Reservoir 

Smith Meadow

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal and give strength to body and soul.” – John Muir

China Camp Chillin - Biking by the Bay

When Marin heats up, China camp offers a Bay breeze and plenty of miles of shade along the park's trails. The park offers hiking, biking, kayaking, camping, picnicking - a recreational play land for all. Come and visit the park's many features which include an extensive intertidal salt marsh, meadow, and oak habitats. There is a variety of wildlife, including deer, squirrels, coyote, fox, bats, and numerous birds. The California clapper rail and the salt marsh harvest mouse are endangered species that live in the marsh areas of the park.

Park Fees Apply

Heads up Sierra

Beautiful blades of grass line the trail

Ferns flourish



San Pablo Bay views



Inviting benches to take in the view

In creating, the only hard thing is to begin: a grass blade's no easier to make than an oak.

-James Russell Lowell

 

The SLO Life - Central Coast

Montana De Oro in San Luis Obispo (SLO) County features over 8,000 acres of rugged cliffs, secluded sandy beaches, coastal plains, streams, canyons, and hills, including 1,347-foot Valencia Peak. Naturalists and backpackers enjoy the solitude and freedom found along the park’s trails. There are also mountain biking and equestrian trails. The best-known beach is Spooner’s Cove. The park’s name, "Mountain of Gold," comes from the golden wildflowers that bloom in spring.





Sierra & Whitney at Spooner Beach

 

Rugged terrain

Beautiful Lupins



Where the Ocean meets the Bay

We made it!



Hiking Buddies

Slow down and take time to appreciate the little things in life!

Snow Days - Part One

It certainly wasn't a year of record snow fall but that didn't stop Sierra from heading up to the Sierra for a Winter day of play!  

 



Wipe out!



Sierra and her new snow buddy



It's a snow day tradition - creating snow angels

Later...

A snow day literally and figuratively falls from the sky, unbidden, and seems like a thing of wonder. -Susan Orlean

Snow Days - Part Two

Carving it up at Alpine Meadows, Tahoe, CA

Skiing is a dance, and the mountain always leads.
-Author Unknown

Magnificent Muir

Muir Woods National Monument is a remnant of ancient coast redwood forests that blanketed many northern California coastal valleys before the 1800s. The area was named in honor of conservationist John Muir. The 560 acre park has six miles of trails.

Shade loving undergrowth thrives under a redwood canopy
including sword ferns, mosses and redwood sorrel.

Listen to the sounds of Muir Woods including the
sound of a falling tree captured by Dan Dugan
https://soundcloud.com/tags/muir%20woods

Hiking the Hillside Trail

Old growth coast redwoods are the tallest living
things in the world

The perfect setting for the Tree Pose

Trails in Muir Woods are boardwalked or asphalted for accessibility

 

With Muir Beach only 3 miles away from Muir Woods
we had to come check it out after it's 5 month revamp

It has been said that trees are imperfect men, and seem to bemoan their imprisonment rooted in the ground. But they never seem so to me. I never saw a discontented tree. They grip the ground as though they liked it, and though fast rooted they travel about as far as we do. They go wandering forth in all directions with every wind, going and coming like ourselves, traveling with us around the sun two million miles a day, and through space heaven knows how fast and far!  - John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir, (1938)