Lake Berryessa

Winter Transitions to Spring

March 19, 2016

I had no real plan on my drive yesterday other than to head in the general direction of Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument.  It's a brand new monument, less than a year old.  It's one of the weird ones not actually administrated by the National Park Service.  The upside of that is it will get the protection of a national monument and without NPS involvement the area probably won't change a whole lot.  The downside is the NPS is very good at balancing the needs of the tourists and the environments it manages.

Common Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Oakland, CA

Common Goldeneye

I never got to the new national monument.  Too many distractions.  That's OK, that happens a lot.  My first distraction was two blocks from my house.  As I crossed our neighborhood drawbridge, I spotted some ducks near the mouth of Sausal Creek.  They were obviously goldeneyes, but even from the bridge I could see they weren't quite what I'm used to seeing.  These birds were either in their non-breeding plumage or molting in that direction.  That was a new one for me.

Scaup -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Oakland, CA

Lupine

I wonder if these ducks were aware that a pair of peregrine falcons reside in the the bridge next to the little beach they'd chosen to inhabit.  I'm guessing not.  Then again, I suppose that's just part of life and death for these birds.  The Central Valley wildlife refuges provide winter homes for millions of ducks and geese.  They're also great places to go to see hawks and harriers.

After shooting the ducks I headed North.  Lake Berryessa is near the Southern end of the monument.  I knew that the exit I was looking for was a few miles past the Lake Berryessa exit, but I couldn't help myself.  I've never been to Lake Berryessa.  I knew heading to Lake Berryessa would mean I wouldn't make it to the new monument, but I've never been to Lake Berryessa either, so that's where I headed instead.

One of the great things about not a having a well-defined plan is not having to stick to that plan.

Pipevine Swallowtail -- Putah Creek, CA

Pipevine Swallowtail

Once I got into the Lake Berryessa area I didn't make a stop without seeing a pipevine swallowtail.  In some places I saw dozens.  I eventually stopped taking pictures of them because I figured I'd tire of looking at the damned things in post-processing.  How many hundreds of pictures of butterflies do you need to take in one day?

Truth be told, I only took about a hundred photos of the butterflies and I didn't tire of looking at the photos while doing the post-processing.  Butterflies are one of my favorite subjects.  They don't seem to spook as easily as birds but they also don't stay in any one place for very long, so they're a challenge to photograph but also not impossible.

I saw a monarch near home yesterday as I started this drive and realized I never made it to the monarch grove in Pacific Grove this year.  Argh.  Well, this little trip kind of made up for that.  I wasn't photographing monarch, but I had no idea how plentiful these swallowtails could be.

Pipevine Swallowtail -- Putah Creek, CA

Lake Berryessa, CA

I didn't actually stay long at the lake once I got there.  I took a few pictures then turned around and headed home through Napa.  I will definitely return, most likely with my kayak.  I was surprised at how hilly the area was.  I always think of the Napa area as being relatively flat.  The valley is, obviously, that's why it's called a valley (duh).  The hills in Napa are very pretty and a little more wild and rugged than I realized.  I want to spend some more time there.

Osprey -- Lake Berryessa, CA

Napa, CA

Road Trip: Yellowstone

July 9, 2015

Thursday would be long day of touristy adventure.  Our plan was to tour the North Loop of Yellowstone.  We did the South Loop on our last visit and it took all day.  Given we'd be entering from the South we assumed this bigger loop might take even longer.  I think it did.

Uinta Chipmunk -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Rocky Mountain Elk

I woke up early in the morning.  Jim was snoring away in his tent so I took the opportunity to do a bit of exploring on my own.  First, I headed to the lodge for some pictures of the lake.  Then I hit out on the road to a couple of wildlife viewing points to see if there was any morning action.  I ran into some elk and a couple of deer.  Well, I didn't literally run into them, I just spotted them in a couple of different areas.

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY

Mule Deer -- Grand Teton National Park, WY

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Bald Eagle

When I got back to the campsite Jim was moving around.  I'm not sure I'd describe him as being awake.  That would take some caffeine.  We ate a little breakfast then hopped in the car and headed up to the big park.

Lewis Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Lewis River, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Gibbon Falls

We stopped for some photos along the Firehole River.  I wanted to stop for pictures of Grand Prismatic Spring but it was extremely crowded and we had a lot of ground to cover so we kept moving.  I got some good pictures there on my last trip, so it was only mildly disappointing.

Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison

We saw our first buffalo of the trip not too far from Mammoth Hot Springs.  I can't imagine it's possible to take a drive for long in Yellowstone without seeing a buffalo, but it's still exciting.  We found this guy rolling around in the grass and had him all to ourselves for quite a while.

Yellowstone National Park, WY

A storm was rolling in as we arrived at Mammoth Hot Springs.  We tried to wait it out by having lunch at the cafe, but the rain was intense.  We settled with it slowing to a mild monsoon and headed out for some pictures of the springs.

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Mammoth Hot Springs, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Osprey

I'm skipping over large portions of this drive not because they weren't interesting but because this blog entry has to come to an end at some point and I've still got a long ways to go.  Anyway, let's leap forward to Lower Yellowstone Falls, shall we?  It's an amazing sight, an unparalleled combination of power and beauty.

Lower Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY

We also visited Upper Yellowstone Falls.  This was also an impressive sight.

Upper Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Upper Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY

In my limited experience the stretch between Yellowstone Falls and Yellowstone River is usually rich with wildlife.  I think I'm done writing here, there's not much to say about these amazing animals that isn't expressed better in these pictures..

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

American Bison -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Rocky Mountain Elk -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

OK.  OK.  I have one more thing to say.  WE SAW GRIZZLY BEARS!

Not one.  Not two.  Three grizzly bears.  THREE GRIZZLY BEARS!

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Grizzly Bear

Holy Schnikeys!  We'd hoped to see a grizzly bear, but figured the odds were pretty low.  We saw a small crowd on a ridge in Hayden Valley and turned off to take a look.  The rangers had set up a perimeter so visitors could watch the grizzlies as they ate.  The ranger said they'd been working on this buffalo carcass for four days.  Jim and I snapped a lot of pictures.  The light wasn't great being overcast and close to dusk, but the pictures came out OK.  I flipped through a lot of different settings on the camera in search of something that worked well.  I think I eventually found something decent.  The ISO was high on all of the pictures, but some of the slower shutter speeds worked out since the bears weren't moving around too much.

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Grizzly Bear -- Yellowstone National Park, WY

Yellowstone Lake, Yellowstone National Park, WY

Soundtrack:

• James Bond Theme Songs

Whiskeytown and Redwood National Park

August 27, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Sonic Youth -- Daydream Nation
• The Band -- Live at the Academy of Music, 1971

My brother and his family were vacationing at Redwood National Park for a few days so I drove up to join them camping for a couple of nights.  Turns out, the end of August is a great time to visit the park.  I'll explain later in this post, but a lot of it has to do with something going on in the photo at the top of this post.

Whiskeytown Lake, CA

Whiskeytown Lake

The trip for me started after work on Tuesday night.  My plan was to drive North and camp at either Lassen National Park or Whiskeytown National Recreation Area depending on what time I got near Redding.  I ended up getting a late start and making a few extra stops, though, so by the time I hit Redding I was done driving for the night.  I found an RV Park with a bar near by and finished the evening in beer and bad karaoke.

My new plan was  to spend the day in Whiskeytown and camp there for the evening.  That plan didn't last long.  It was too stinkin' hot.  I'm used to fog and summer weather in the sixties and low seventies.  I needed to get back to the coast.  New plan.  I'd take my time driving out to the coast and meet up with Chad a day early.

Cool Drain Thingy, Whiskeytown Lake, CA

Osprey

Whiskeytown is a man-made lake.  Near the dam is a cool drain thingy.  I'd love to see this thing in action when waters get high enough.  I saw four or five osprey around the lake.  I actually saw at least one osprey on every day of the trip.  I was hoping for an eagle (bald or golden) on this trip but that didn't work out.  The osprey were a nice consolation prize, though.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer

After leaving the lake, I took a detour and followed the Trinity upstream for a few miles.  I found a nice bend in the river to explore.  I was hoping to see some salmon, but if they were in the river they weren't visible.  I wasn't sure if it was too early in the season, anyway.  I bumped into a couple of deer, though.  They were beautiful but very nervous about me being around.  They ran off across a small field after having a good look at me.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer, Trinity River, CA

Trinidad, CA

It took a few hours to get out to the coast.  I hit 101 just North of Eureka and took a right.  I stopped in Trinidad to gas up and have a look at their lighthouse.  It was a cute little thing.  The surrounding scenery was as picturesque as it comes.  It reminded me of Pacific Grove, how it seemed too pretty to be real.

Trinidad, CA

So, I don't actually remember the name of my next stop.  It might have been Dry Lagoon Beach.  Dunno.  It was wonderfully foggy with patches of sunlight blowing through.  My kind of place, whatever it was called.

Redwood National Park, CA

Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk

As usual, there was a herd of elk hanging out near Elk Meadow.  They always seem to be there, though I never seem to find them in the same exact place.  This time they were in some body's front yard.  I normally drive through this area in the off-season I guess, I'm used to having the herd all to myself.  On this trip the herd was surrounded by tourists.  I was a little uncomfortable with how close folks were getting to the elk, especially when the big bull stood up and moved in with the ladies, but I guess the elk didn't seem to mind.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk

Things were really hopping at Klamath River.  This is why I noted earlier that late August is probably a good time to visit the park.  The salmon were running.  People were fishing in boats on the river.  The mouth of the river is quite small and was lined on both sides with fishermen.  Sea lions were hunting the salmon both in the ocean and in the river itself.  Osprey and other birds were also joinng in on the festivities.  It was very cool.

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Klamath River, Redwood National Park, CA

Elegant Tern (?)

I didn't go down to the river's mouth.  The easiest access was from the South side, but by the time I'd figured that out and that there was something interesting going on I was already on the North side and I didn't feel like doubling back.  I wish I had.  my brother went down there a couple of days later and said it was the coolest thing he saw on the trip.  Instead, I headed to the campground.  I was a day early and when I checked with the ranger up front she said my brother wouldn't be in until the next night.  She had a late opening, though, so I took that spot and was starting to settle in when my sister-in-law drove up.  They had two separate reservations in different spots in the same campground over the two nights.  I moved to their site and we were off on the next leg of this adventure.  Well, we had dinner and went to sleep, then set out on the next leg the following day.

Lagoon Creek, Redwood National Park, CA