Why Photographers Call it “Magic Hour”

January 1st on Mount Tamalpais, Marin County, CA Those precious moments right after the sun rises and the landscape is imbued with rich surprises of color.

Good Morning 2024 from Mount Tamalpais

January 2, 2024 Mount Tamalpais State Park, Marin County California Some glorious light from my sacred mountain. A gift from the spirits that reside here for getting up so early on a New Year’s Day, driving in the dark from Alameda, and hiking its mystical trails. So much easier to do that in sobriety. My

Black Friday Hike – Redwood Regional Park

Avoiding the crowds that were avoiding the crowds I can honestly say that for as long as I’ve done my own shopping, I’ve yet to venture out shopping on a Black Friday. Generally, I’d rather spend a couple extra bucks to save my sanity. Many times, being in the restaurant biz, I was scheduled to

My Latest “Masterpiece” – Upper Basin along the JMT

October 17, 2023 Ink on bristol paper, 13″x 10″ While I semi-jokingly refer to this as my latest “masterpiece”, I can’t deny that I’m very proud of this latest drawing that I finished on Sunday. This piece is part of my ongoing John Muir Trail project. In 2015, I spent 25 glorious, arduous days backpacking

My Annual Frank Valley Wildflower Safari and Census – Mount Tamalpais State Park

June 8, 2023 Whew, that’s a mouthful. And MAFVWSC-MTSP is not to be confused with my My Annual Autumn Color Sierra Photo Safari (that I haven’t been able to do since 2020, so not so annual after all). But it is springtime so after pumping some Flonase and Claritin D into my body, a fully

The Magical Light of Morning – Mount Tam

May 16, 2023 I’ve seen some really amazing views in my decades of hiking the various trails of Mount Tamalpais and elsewhere in California. But this past Saturday’s interplay of fog, sunlight and forest really took my breath away. I’ve posted variations of this type of image in the past, and I don’t discount the

Point Reyes National Seashore – Hike to Alamere – Photo Gallery (& some words)

April 24, 2023 Springtime weather is upon is, as is springtime pollen. After a long, wet winter and early spring flowers are blooming all along the Coast Trail out of the Palomarin Trailhead. I started at about 8:00 Friday morning (4/21) from the trailhead and headed north toward Alamere Falls. In all, I hiked somewhere

Today & Every Day – Cherish Mother Earth

April 22, 2023

Temelpa Trail (& others) to the East Peak Summit – Mount Tamalpais

October 30, 2022 I start this post with a moving and somber inscription from the plaque that is mounted on Sitting Bull Rock, a monument on the Hoo Koo e-Koo Trail on Mount Tamalpais in Marin County (CA). At first I was going to apologize for the reflection of myself in the image, but it’s

Dipsea/Steep Ravine Trail – Mount Tamalpais

(and a shameless plug for selling prints) August 30, 2022 Summer in the Bay Area is quite unlike most other areas in the United States. While most of the country is broiling, sweltering with mind numbing humidity, or flooding from monsoons, I’m taking several layers of clothing in my day pack to make sure I