A very special visitor

Moving out here to California was a big move for me. It is difficult to leave behind all your friends and family, break away from your core-comfort zone, not everyone can do it. However, if you're like me, and the allure of new adventures is strong enough as to overcome all other obstacles, well then home is wherever you make it! I am supremely fortunate to be able to do as much as I do, we live in an era where nearly anything is possible. Without the support of my family, friends and girlfriend, I would be nowhere near where I am today. It really meant a lot to me to see my father, albeit brief. However, another individual who has profoundly humbled me into who I am today paid me a special visit for 10 wonderful days, my girlfriend, Madison.

She arrived the night before my father had to fly back to VA and from the moment she stepped off the plane we had quite a trip planned! I had to work the first couple days of the week, so we dipped out of San Francisco as quick as possible. Madison was downtown spending time with friends and so I swooped in the coup and scooped her up. Leaving the downtown area, I stumbled upon a nice view.


We didn't arrive in Arcata until late that night, it was a many hours drive, but not without sneaking in a quick peep of the redwoods along "Avenue of The Giants". In the morning we met with Madison's potential adviser at Humboldt State University, which is amazingly serene and beautiful. It is an older hippie town with a long history for environmental consciousness, sort of reminded me of Burlington, Vermont. Leaving from Arcata, we traveled further north, into the Redwoods State Parks area to stop at the Ladybird Grove.

A whole family could fit in this redwood! After following the wonderful loop trail dedicated by Ladybird Johnson in the 60's and justly introduced to a world of dinosaur trees we continued a bit further north to Prarie Creek Redwood State Park. This park is home to quite a few of the world's tallest trees and hosts a really unique redwood ecosystem. Along the trail, we paused for a quick self-portrait:

The trail we took left the ranger headquarters and finished at the Pacific ocean, since it was late in the evening and we wanted to see the sunset, we knew we had to hustle! Even so, you cannot rush the subtle magnificence of the forests out here:

We made it in time!


I know I always wax poetic about California sunsets, but anyone who has been here can vouch for me, they're just always beautiful. Just before the above sunset photo was taken, I took this photo below to show both the ruggedness of the land as it meets the ocean as well as the gentle beach that straddles both:

The next morning we slept in nicely and lounged around, I had not camped on the beach in some years, it is easy to forget how cool it is:


Late in the morning we embarked for "Fern Canyon", which is an area famous for its prehistoric collection of ferns. This place must be seen to be believed! I think "Fern Gully" might be a better name though, but thats a movie.

Before that though, this old, giant log near the little ponds served as a great spot for eating/lounging/sleeping, and perch for a little person with a big pack!

Clearly we had come to Prairie Creek at the right time of year, all the trilliums were in bloom! Madison enjoyed them because they are endemic to West Virginia, her home. We joked that they were like little faces with eyes, the eyes of the forest- watching us as we wandered about:

Our second night at Prairie Creek we made camp in the shadow of some real giants. Surrounded by tree-like ferns and the dense under story vegetation, it was absolute bliss:

The tent was set up, the sleeping bags lain out to fluff up, and I caught Madison in her nighties!

We were so reluctant to leave this magical, prehistoric forest, a real place of the "Land Before Time." The last few miles we tried to make last a while, which meant time for a few Kodak moments. The scale of these trees is difficult to imagine without a human comparison, it simply blows my mind how astonishingly well redwoods grow in their native habitat. The trail was always so quaint, just meandering amongst the redwoods, allowing us to greet each giant as they came near.

As sad as it was to leave the redwoods behind, it was of course nice to know they won’t be going anywhere anytime soon. I sure would like my kids to see one of the great natural wonders of the world.

Madison and I stopped on our way into San Francisco at a great vantage point for the Golden Gate Bridge. This panorama shot shows its grandiosity!



Of course our portrait shot was taken too. It was super nice to have my girlfriend around. When everyone is thousands of miles away and then a slice of lovely familiarity comes to see you, it is really touching. I was quite sad to see her go, now I look forward to our next embrace (-: Miss you Muffly!

The man himself

Many exciting things happened to me the past week or so. It began with a visit from the man himself, my father. He was just north of San Francisco, in Portland, for business and was able to adjust his schedule to visit me and see the city. He arrived on a Friday morning and I met him for lunch near the airport.

Saturday was a very eventful day, embarking from a reasonable and free continental breakfast at his hotel, we journeyed north towards the Golden Gate Bridge. After encountering the usual traffic through the city, quick time was made onto route 1 along the coast. For those who have not done it, this is really a spectacular drive and successfully introduces one to the ruggedness of the northern California coastline. The highway parallels the coast super close, providing breath-taking vistas to any one willing to allow a stop. We did just that and I even paused for a delayed shot of the man himself and I:


We continued on this route past the popular Stinson Beach, then cut inland to follow the course of the San Andreas fault. We stopped at Point Reyes National Seashore, which is a neat park encompassing a vast area from beaches to conifer groves. I am always short on time, so we did the interpretive walk, the same walk I did when our whole family came out to San Francisco 12 years ago! It was neat to see where the San Andreas fault proper was again and the fence that jumped 5 meters! The earthquake of 1906, whose fires destroyed much of San Francisco displaced 250 miles of ground!

Onward and forward we continued north to Petaluma for a stop at a cheesery. I absolutely love cheese so this was an essential pause at the Marin French Cheese store and factory. We had a country style picnic with many kinds of soft French cheeses, baguette, salami and bit of red wine. A tasty jausen-style lunch appropriate for wine and cheese country! I continue to be amazed by what California has to offer and further convinced why it is so desirable to live here.

From the Marin French Cheesery we sped east through Sonoma county and into the Napa Valley. It was much different than I thought it would be, chock-full of wineries and vineyards. We went to Beringer Winery along the main drag and managed to squeeze in a few tastes as well as purchase some cheap bottles from the store. The house that greets you from the main road is quite impressive:

As the hour was getting late, we headed back to San Francisco. We were due to pick up my next special visitor who would spend a maginficent 10 days with me (hers and my trip will be in the next blog). Before the airport though, there was unfinished business at Fishermans Wharf. Since many years my father has raved about Boudin Bread company, makers of the famous sourdough. We grabbed New England Clam Chowder in sourdough bread bowls for the first time together in Fishermans Wharf in 12 years. It was delicious!

Granite Chief Snowshoe Tour

This tour was my 2nd attempt at Granite Chief, near Squaw Valley at Lake Tahoe. My first try a few weeks ago was thwarted by uber deep and blowing snow, no weather deterrent this time around! Bluebird skies and soft, spring-like temperatures greeted me when I awoke in the car on Saturday morning, a ripe day for a tour!


After borrowing snowshoes for some years, I finally caved in and bought some for myself (wallet was burning a hole in my pocket as well). I went for the most rugged shoes I could find, ones that can handle the absolute toughest terrain. MSR is a US company that has an excellent reputation for quality products, now is a great time to support the homefront economy.


I recently purchased some rechargeable batteries for my camera at the urging of my girlfriend. The camera must not like them because most of the time it tells me the freshly-charged batteries are depleted when they're not. So, as a consequence I was only able to take photos of the first hour of my tour. The ever popular self-portrait:

Break trail was tough, as the sun came out, the fluf surface snow turned into "Sierra cement" and the going was slow, albeit picturesque.


Not to help matters, I took an unbelievably long way to the summit of Granite Chief. I followed directions from the www.summitpost.com website for the summer trail route, this was a big mistake. It took me all day, but eventually I did make it to just below the summit. At the time it seemed reasonable, but i decided to dig a snow cave for the night, just below the peak itself (perhaps 40-50 feet) where the first trees begin in Krummholz formation at the environmentally-induced timberline. I resolved the terrain to be too steep to set up my little tent directly without digging out a platform, I figured it would only be a little more effort just to dig a snowcave, which would be warmer.

I had no problem getting to sleep quickly after dark came. I wish I'd had a functioning camera to take photos of the wonderful alpenglow that spilled everywhere from the sunset. Fortunately for me, I'd brought just enough fuel to melt snow for water and have hot drinks/food. I awoke to a farely fierce wind, blowing and drifting snow. It spooked me for a moment, just long enough to pack my things quickly to head down. Interestingly enough, only a hundred or so feet lower in elevation and the sun was shining- the top of the mountain was immersed in a cloud!

Leaving Granite Chief proper, I followed the Squaw Valley ski area boundary, which was the route I should have taken up. What took an entire day to climb was descended in a mere 2.5 hours, with Breidl Jausens along the way. A quick stop at Panera Bread in Roseville on the way back to Pacifica, I arrived in the late afternoon- to enjoy an extra hour of sunshine and bask in my own self-satisfaction.

In too deep

This weekend was a real eye opener for me. Coming from the east, it certainly was easy to underestimate the snow of the Sierras. We would get snow in West Virginia, but powder days seldom occur. So when I checked the weather forecast for Lake Tahoe and they were calling for snow, I thought ok, conditions will be prime. The mountains out here are big, don't let them fool you, breaking trail through 3-4 feet of pow is a task.

The plan as it was when I left San Francisco at 5:30am was to park at Squaw Valley resort, then ski just outside the ski area boundary into the Granite Chief Wilderness that is adjacent to it. I got lucky with parking and entered a sort of trail at the far west end of the town. Following a previously broken trail, I forded a creek and found myself a few hundred feet above the town.


The pre-broken snowshoe trail ended nearly as quick as it started and soon I was breaking trail, spirits were high.

I was jammin' to my shuffle, life was good. It is definitely easy to underestimate how much effort it is to break trail, even in about 2 feet of pow. I quickly determined the depth of the pow was too much to warrant a valid attempt on Granite Chief. So I made camp and woke up the next morning to a foot of new snow and the tent walls sagging very low. Here is a photo after I finished clearing it off. It was quite quaint being next to the tree, it was a swell wind break for the stove.


Pretty much the entire day it snowed, sometimes big quarter-sized flakes. Boy did the snow get deep quick! By the time I left, I would wager to say it snowed 2-3 feet. I dug a test hole to the ground in a nearby drift, and started to build a cave, it may not look it, but this hole was 7-8 feet deep!

After resolving that an attempt to go higher would be treacherous, I kept busy clearing off the snow from my shelter and enlarging it from the inside. Then all of a sudden the stove malfunctioned, repeatedly. Even after I had used it with no problems the whole trip. I don't know if it was the altitude (only about 7,000 ft.) or the cold or a broken piece in the pump mechanism itself. I took that sucker completely apart, cleaned it methodically and tried to coax it to life. It just would not maintain a hot flame (stove is a MSR Whisperlite Internationale). Since there was no real feasible way to melt snow for water or boil for tea, it was game over.

I started to leave at about 5:30-6:00. I did not get back to the car until 9:30, it took more than 3 hours to cover about 2 miles and it was a serious task. The combination of fresh, fluffy pow and me with my heavy rucksack on skis did not grant me the proper flotation I needed. Each step brought me forward and down, to practically my thighs and waist. It was an agonizingly slow process, I could only do 10 steps before having to catch my breath. Since the trail I blazed going out was gone, I had to break a new one, through 4+ feet of pow. Breaking trail can be a drag, if someone was there with me it would not have been so bad.

Many lessons were learned this trip. Make sure the stove works properly before leaving home- bring more fuel than you think you'll need, eliminate access weight, i.e. heavy food. If I had a lighter pack (and I thought it was pretty light- sub 30lbs), I think the going would have been much easier. Being solo into the backcountry in winter time is potentially dangerous, I should have stayed a bit closer to the car. Most important lesson: don't underestimate the snow!

However, I did have fun clearing off my car, she is nearly unmistakable. I was secretly hoping the giant block on my roof would last until the Bay Area, but warm central valley rain ruined it (-;

Larger Than Life

A stroll through a redwood forest is a special experience. They have a particular aura about them that is difficult to pin down with words, they teem with great variety and composition. I believe it is important to write about what makes redwood forests so special. Just to give you an idea, one tree easily dwarfs my rucksack at the base of the tree.


For starters, these forests contain more living biomass than any other ecosystem on earth, 10 times a tropical rainforest! Although a tropical rainforest may triumph the redwoods by their complexity. Redwoods are so immense they alter their surroundings, creating niches for a plethora of other organisms. Such as the banana slug, which is an astonishing 6 inches long!


Another element of wildlife worth mentioning is the presence of northern flying squirrels at the redwood forest. Probably similar to their eastern counterparts in the red spruce forests of high-elevation West Virginia, the northern flying squirrel is a quiet gliding mammal that swoops from branches in old growth.

The wood of redwoods is full of tannin, a toxin that makes it resistant to damage from pathogens, as well as rot. That is why redwood is a splendid timber species, aside from the enormous pores of the heartwood that characterize it. Since redwood are so resistant to rot, downed trees often take centuries to decompose, slowly releasing nutriets for the next generation and acting as "nurse logs" or habitat logs for new trees and plants to grow.

The weather was so beautiful in the evening I decided just to sleep outside. Below is quite a nerdy self-portrait of me and my camp site.


Perhaps you are wondering, what is the secret of the redwoods? How can they grow so BIG? One reason is their well-develped system of water works. Redwoods only grow as far inland as the effect of the ocean, so when the cold and moist ocean air meets the hot valleys of CA's central valleys fog occurs. Drought is common here in the summer time and the fog aides redwoods immensely. In fact studies have shown redwoods may even extract water from the fog using their leaves. An old growth redwood forest even generates its own fog by the individual trees transpiring, this fog acts as a sort of blanket to hold in the heat of the day below, many species depend on this effect. Redwood forests are amazing in their ability to moderate climatic extremes.

The redwoods carefully evolved traits are perfectly suited to its range and it thrives and dominates, allowing it to grow very old, perhaps a few thousand years! I thought the biggest and perhaps oldest tree in the park was this one, I am not sure of it's name, but it was truly colossal!


Nearly 14 feet in diameter! Absolutely a "larger than life" specimen!

I am not an expert on redwoods or trees for that matter, so if you're an expert or know more, please post a comment, I am eager to learn more about this fascinating ecosystem!

Bay Area Weather

The best way to describe the weather of the greater San Francisco Bay Area is Mediterranean. Since I have arrived, it has not gotten colder than 50 degrees nor warmer than 70 degrees, but that can vary greatly depending on where you are. You see, the combination of a steady maritime influence and such undulating, mountainous topography creates rather bizarre microclimates. Up in Marin County, north of San Francisco downtown proper, you might find cold and wetness. Down here in Pacifica (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pacifica,_California) it will be super windy and dry. Even crossing into a different valley within Pacifica will yield you slightly different conditions, going up in elevation changes everything too!

The cities characteristic fog is the result of cold ocean water trying to mesh with hot Central Valley (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Valley_(California)) air. It is not unusual for the eastern sheltered parts of the city to recieve more sunshine than other parts such as Sunset district, which tends get fogged out. On the same token, further inland into the San Francisco Bay it can get real hot, but atleast it is a dry heat out here.

The climate of San Francisco makes it extraordinarily well-suited for growing landscape trees (and growing nearly anything really!). No tree guide can help you identify all of the citys trees, native species seem to grow where they can and many others dominate the yards of suburban homes. There are hybrids and imports from Asia, Europe, South America and Australia. Favorable landscape species such as sycamore, ash, elm, oak (including evergreen ones) and maples can be found here too. So, anyone working with the trees has a lot to learn, and let me tell you, tree identification in San Francisco is a real challenge!

As I write this a new front has moved in and ruined a solid 10 days of blue bird days, which was honestly the longest period of sunshine I have experienced in the middle of winter in my life. The front will bring frightfully cold temperatures in the 50s and rain, but they need the later very badly here! Wishful thinking near my place:

San Francisco parking

This blog serves to help anyone who desires to drive in downtown San Francisco. I had a nice conversation with an individual yesterday who is a high-ranking parking official for downtown. She had some good tips for parking violations.

Watch out for driveways, if ANY part of your car (including bumpers) hangs out into the curved part of a driveway you are liable to be ticketed and towed, but ONLY at the landowners discretion. However, if the inevitable happens and you do see your car being towed you do have one right. If part of your car is still at the curb, then the tow truck driver HAS to put down your car and you just pay the citation (if a ticket has been written or the parking control officer is present), but when they pull away it is at the tow truck driver's discretion whether to give your car back or not.

Watch out for areas that are parking most of the day, but at certain hours are commuter lanes. If you park in this area and say the commuter lanes go from 1500-1700 and you are parked at 1505, you will get cited and towed. In fact, the parking control officers (as they like to be called) ride around with the tow truck drivers and it is not uncommon to be cited and towed in 2-3 minutes flat. That is unbelievably fast and your car is gone )-; only to be retrieved by paying $285 and up! By the way, parking citations went up recently, I was told that most are $85 a pop!

Also, an officer can write you a ticket and not give it to to you or place it on your car. This happens typically when someone is sitting in their car in an expired metered spot. I am told that officers have been assaulted in the past and prefer not to have to place the citation on your car, so it gets mailed to you instead (not sure how this applies to out-of-state residents such as myself). I had good luck sitting in my car in metered spots, but know that it illegal to do so and it is discretionary to the parking control officer to tell you if they are writing you a ticket while you are in it.

One last comment, when you get a ticket from a police officer (not a parking control officer), double check to see that all the information is filled out. If not, that ticket is DEFINITELY protestable. You can usually identify if a police officer has written your ticket by PD... at the top. What is also worth protesting is when on the ticket the location the officer gave is too vague to identify where your vehicle is, for instance "handicap ramp, Chestnut", well there might 4 handicap ramps on Chestnut Street, which one is it?

Keep in mind the colors of curb markings too; yellow is for business, I think red is for emergency vehicles. Also note the color and messages of the meters themselves. ALWAYS make sure to look within 100 feet of where you are parking or 5 spots in front or behind you for a sign. If the sign is beyond that distance, you're usually in the clear.

Good luck playing the parking game, it is a cutthroat one.