Dan's Outside

I go, I see, I do, I walk, I think, I like…

A Coe Park Trip Report

Other Tom (Tom Clifton) has posted a nice piece about the beauties of the Central California oak/grassland environment as part of a report (with photos) on his recent and first visit to Henry Coe State Park.

January 20, 2008 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on A Coe Park Trip Report

Passing Along the News from Two-Heel Drive

Tom at Two-Heel Drive (why do I always type To-Hell Drive the first time? ;-) has posted a couple of interesting announcements.

First, he has announced that the Annual Ground Hogs Day Invitational Hike will take place on Saturday Sunday, February 2 3*. You are invited, so it must be an invitational, right? Details are not exactly set in stone just yet, but there is a good chance that we’ll go to Henry Coe Park (quickly, before the Governator tries to close it) and probably in the morning. Follow the link to Tom’s blog for more information.

* Tom wrote to point out: “Dan: Feb. 3 is a sunday (Super Bowl Sunday in fact)”

Second, he notes a couple of appearances by Bay Area outdoor phenom 4WheelBob and his impressive feat on White Mountain last summer.

January 20, 2008 Posted by | Events | 2 Comments

A Hike. Finally

Two weeks ago I was hit by this awful bug/cold/flu that seems to be going around here in the Bay Area. The pattern is that it doesn’t seem that bad at first, but it lasts… and lasts… and lasts. I have students who took three weeks or more to get over it.

Needless to say, it was all I could do to get to work during the past week and a half. (First week of the winter term, so it would be a pretty bad time for me to take a week off!) Finally today I felt enough better to try an actual hike – out on the Skyline To The Sea Trail at Big Basin. I managed to do perhaps 6 or 7 miles – slow, but at least I was out.

January 20, 2008 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on A Hike. Finally

A Whale of a Stupid Move

The New York Times Dot Earth blog reports on The White House and the Whales – definitely worth reading. The good news is that we now have less than a year of this embarrassing travesty of an administration left to endure.

January 17, 2008 Posted by | Commentary, Environment | 1 Comment

A Youthful View of Environmental Issues

Cole Camplese points to an interesting example of student work on an environmental theme.

January 17, 2008 Posted by | Commentary, Environment | Comments Off on A Youthful View of Environmental Issues

The Governator Wants to Close State Parks

… but the odds are it will just turn out to be a bunch of political posturing in the end.

(I heard an interesting commentary on the radio this morning about the craziness of a “10% across the board” cut. If you were having problems with your personal or family cash flow, is that how you would handle it? Doubtful.)

January 15, 2008 Posted by | Commentary | 3 Comments

Yosemite National Park is Falling Apart. Really.

Seen in the West Coast Imaging Blog:

Continuing rockfall activity at Middle Brother From the Yosemite Daily Report:

Due to continuing rockfalls from Middle Brother, Northside Drive between Camp 4 and El Capitan crossover in Yosemite Valley remains closed. Please be aware that this closure includes both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. The area was closed following a rockfall on December 18, 2007 that sent one large boulder and several smaller rock fragments onto the road. – Rich Seiling

And…

minor collapse in the pedestrian tunnel at Hetch Hetchy From the Yosemite Daily Report:

Due to a minor collapse in the pedestrian tunnel at Hetch Hetchy, the trail to Wapama and Tueealala Falls is inaccessible at this time. NPS and City of San Francisco staff will be evaluating the situation on Monday. – Rich Seiling

And if that’s not enough…

… a tree fell on Edie’s car.

January 15, 2008 Posted by | Commentary | Comments Off on Yosemite National Park is Falling Apart. Really.

At the Coast, but Not at Mavericks

The famous Mavericks surf competition was held yesterday along the Pacific coast south of San Francisco. Lots of people head out there to try to view (and photograph) the event. (Take a look John Mueller’s photographs at Flickr to get an idea of the crowds, the beautiful weather, and even a bit of surfing.)

I went over that direction, but intentionally stayed away from the scene at Mavericks. It was a wonderful day – where I was it was not too cold, but the surf was tremendous and there was lots of interesting clouds, fog, and light.


Winter Surf, Gulls. South of San Francisco, California. January 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.


Winter Surf – Pacific Ocean. South of San Francisco, California. January 12, 2008. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

If you go there soon, you’ll find a few others at my Flickr site.

January 13, 2008 Posted by | Commentary, Ocean, Photography | Comments Off on At the Coast, but Not at Mavericks

The Great California Blizzard of '08

Although I was in the Pacific Northwest and therefor managed to miss most of it – except for flying through an astonishing snow squall while on approach to SJC – the recent California storm was one for the record books… or maybe not quite. The following article includes some amazing information about Sierra snowfall totals in earlier years:

Blizzard of ’08 leaves 11 feet of snow in the Sierras. The blizzard of ’08 is over in hard-hit California, Oregon, and Washington, but the storm has left in its wake flooding, downed power lines, and prodigious amounts of snow. In the Sierra Mountains, 4-8 feet of snow were common. At the Kirkwood ski resort near Lake Tahoe, an astounding 11 feet of snow fell in just 72 hours–10 feet of that in only 48 hours.Figure 1. Cleared tracks on the Southern Pacific Railway at Blue Canyon during the winter of 1917. Some of the h…
Read More [Dr. Jeff Masters’ WunderBlog]

Click the title link to read the whole article.

If nothing else, this set of New Years storms has reduced the immediate concerns about another drought year in California. Last year was extremely dry, especially in the southern part of the state, and I would hate to see another summer like that one.

January 7, 2008 Posted by | Commentary, Environment | Comments Off on The Great California Blizzard of '08

Pelican Flock at Dusk


Pelican Flock, Dusk. Point Lobos State Park, California. December 30, 2007. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell.

December 31, 2007 Posted by | Ocean, Point Lobos | Comments Off on Pelican Flock at Dusk

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