Saw these flowers along the Pacific Crest Trail

I couldn't decide which view I liked better

Looking up, I like the composition...
Looking down I like the colors...

Pacific Crest Trail

Here is a view from the Pacific Crest Trail near Sonora Pass.

The Pacific Crest Trail goes from Mexico to Canada. Some people try to hike the trail in one year, which is tricky because if you time it wrong, or the weather doesn't cooperate, you can get stuck in too much snow, or suffer heat stroke from the desert heat.

Me? I just think my feet would get sore waaaay before I'd run into either of those problems.

First Video Posting, third attempt

OK, I'm NOT going to edit this one until I figure this out.

First Video Posting, second attempt

Let's try this again.

Damn again. Just opening up the post makes the video disappear.

First Video posting

I haven't felt driven to figure out how to post videos to my blog yet, but this video was apparently important enough for me to take on the challenge (which, of course, turned out to very simple).

This took up several minutes of my family's time, even though it was a beautiful day outside and we were at the beach.

Damn. The video was there, until I edited the post to add italics and color to the text. OK, maybe not so simple after all.

Just a leaf...

This poor Aspen leaf fell early. The trees were full of green leaves, whispering in the wind the way Aspens do. I liked the way this one looked against the gray dirt.

Powell Lake

Not Lake Powell on the Arizona/Utah border. Powell Lake, in Immigrant Wilderness, California. The Three Chimneys are in the distance.

Three Chimneys

Kinda looks like Monument Valley, California. But it's actually the Emmigrant Wilderness, in Stanislaus National Forest. The three peaks on the right are called "The Three Chimneys."

Kinda funny to do this, but...

Yesterday, BAC posted a great retrospective of her first two years of blogging. I enjoyed every link, although some of them got me teary-eyed.

It's kind of funny to link to BAC from here, since I think she is one of a handful of people who read this (Hi, BAC), but...you never know...if you're not already a friend of BAC, check out this sample of her first two years.

Twisty Tree

I love they way some trees grow twisty like this:The haze in the background is from a far-away forest fire. We called the ranger to find out if it was safe to go on our hike; they said it was, and sure enough, by afternoon the sky had cleared up.

Granite Vistas

I spent last week at the UC Berkeley family camp: Lair of the Golden Bear. Located in Pinecrest, California, they provide a tent-cabin per family, three meals a day, and age-group activities for kids. Hiking trails abound in the surrounding area, so off I went.

This view was from a hike from Gianelli Cabin trailhead to Chewing Gum Lake.

Chewing Gum lake is not sticky; it was quite refreshing. Here it is:

Other lakes in the area are also creatively named: Mud Lake, and my personal favorite, Toe Jam Lake....like, yeah, I want to hike 8 miles to swim in that!

Balmy Alley Murals

Back in June, we spent a Beautiful Day in San Francisco, and at the end of it we spent some time in the Mission District, to see the murals. The best murals are the ones painted by the residents of Balmy Alley; they are more personal than the commissioned murals in the rest of the neighborhood.

Two days after we visited the murals, a teenage boy died in front of the Taqueria where we got fresh strawberry juice, the victim of a drive-by shooting at the corner nearest to Balmy Alley.

Dang, that made me sad.

More so because I’d just been there, enjoying the murals. The murals are so beautiful, so complicated, so personal. You want to get to know the people who created them. You want to know more about their life, their struggles, their triumphs, joys and sorrows. I guess you assume that the murals reflect on past struggles; I mean, they are painted by residents of San Franciso, California! Then you hear about the shooting and you remember that the struggles and sorrows occur every day.

On this mural, the letter the woman is holding is legible from up close, and it is written to her husband, who is "up north." She has not heard from him, she misses him and she is worried. If I remember correctly, she tells him about his child who he has never met. Poignant.

This one is a tribute to Frida Khalo. I love the gas meter flamingo!

Here are just a few more...only a small sample of what's there.

I'm off for one more summer romp. Enjoy the murals while I'm gone.

Fun with the Moon

Because I want to be envied...

After that last post, Cunning Runt renounced his envy of my trip to the Sierra Buttes. So, in an effort to earn back his envy...

This one is for you, CR, because it has rocks in it.

History and a Thrill

Here's the history:


At the top of Sierra Buttes, is this plaque, commemorating the incredible gold mining that took place in the area, with special note of a 106 pound nugget that was found here. Woah.


Up some very-steep stairs, you reach the tippy top of Sierra Buttes, where you find this rock, inscribed by miners during the gold rush.
Note the old-fashioned writing style!

OK, and here's the thrill (to put it mildly):That there is a rattle, at the end of a looong snake. I startled it, and it scared the living daylights out of me. It slithered one way, and I leaped the other! Hubby had some warning (my scream), so he was collected enough to take this photo.

Peaceful Meadow

New and improved, with no mosquitoes (when enjoyed by blogosphere, that is):

More fresh, Sierra air

Come back daily this week for more fresh air from the Sierra: Tamarack Lakes, from the Sierra Buttes trail.

Sierra Buttes

Here's the reason I've not been blogging lately.

Namaste.

Bye for a while...

I'm off again. Here's where:

The Pioneer Tree from the outside

I realized I posted a photo looking out from inside the Pioneer Tree, but no photo of the tree itself. Here's a photo taken by 10yo, her own self.

He-who-shall-not-be-named

I finished Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and... I won't give anything away here, but...

Could it be that the story continues in Samuel P. Taylor State Park????