Surfing Fort Point

Fort Point, San Francisco, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/4, 1/500s, ISO: 125

I always enjoy watching surfers.  I have a board and wetsuit myself but I was never very good.  Maybe I should take it up again.  Hmmm.  I'd need a bigger board.

Fort Point is great spot to watch these guys do their stuff, especially on a day like Saturday when the surf is breaking close to the seawall.  You can get angles that you don't get from most shorelines.  There's another spot I know of on Seventeen Mile Drive that's similar.

Siren on the Rocks

Fort Point, San Francisco, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, 1/50s, f7.1, ISO: 100

I don't normally use a lot of effects on my photos, preferring a natural look instead.  I liked the overall structure of this shot but the light was a little weird on this one.  So, I Holga-ized it.  Too much?

The Saltscape

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

I like the shapes that are rendered on the salt flats of Death Valley after the lake bed dries out,  The lake still fills up every once in a while  Twenty years ago it was full enough for people to venture out on canoes and kayaks,  I can't imagine how high the saline level must have been in that water.

Image selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 126, image #0047.

Ancient Pueblan Cliff Dwellings

Navajo National Monument, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, f/7.1, 1/60s, ISO: 100

Navajo National Monument is a nice tune up for Mesa Verde if you're traveling that way from the West.  The surrounding area is beautiful, more impressive than Mesa Verde, really.  Can't compete with the Mesa Verde cliff dwellings, though.

Tunnel View

Tunnel View, Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/10, 1/100s, ISO:100

Can't go to Yosemite without hitting Tunnel View, right?  It was a little too early in the evening for a stand out picture, and the smoke from nearby wildfires made things a bit hazy, but it was what it was.  It's always a spectacular view.

Bass Lake

Bass Lake, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/10, 1/100s, ISO: 100

Pongo and I spent a good portion of Saturday swimming and hanging out at Bass Lake.  He's becoming more confident in the deep water, although I would'n consider him a solid swimmer yet.  A few more trips and he might be there, though.

Don Pedro Reservoir

Don Pedro Reservoir, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/10, 1/40s, ISO: 125

That's a pretty picture, but scary, too.  I took that shot last night on the drive home from Bass Lake and Yosemite.  I was troubled by the water level in May (see photo below), but it has dropped considerably since then.  Granted, the summer drop isn't at all surprising.  It doesn't generally rain in California between June and late October, we count on the winter snow pack to carry us through the dry months, but there's not much left in that lake, is there?  I was at the high end of Folsom Lake a couple of weeks ago and it wasn't a lake at all, it was still very much a river.  This state is going to be in a lot of trouble if we have another dry winter.

Don Pedro Reservoir, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/8, 1/60s, ISO: 100

Point Pinos

Point Pinos, Pacific Grove, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40,mm f/4L USM, f/8. 1/125s, ISO: 100

I haven't been able to decide if I like this photo or not.  The light's not so great, but I kind of like the colors.

Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef National Park, UT
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

Of Utah's five national parks, Capitol Reef is probably its least well known and least visited.  I don't know why that it because of the three I've been to it's easily my favorite.  I suppose that's at least in part because it was the least crowded of the three parks I've been to.  It's got a lot of cliffs and therefore a lot of geological drama going on.  I even witnessed some rockfall.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 125, image #812.

Garrapata State Park

Garrapata State Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17/40mm f/4L USM, f/8, 1/60s, ISO: 100

Garrapata seems to mark the unofficial start of Big Sur from the North.  This is where the coastline really starts to look like Big Sur.  It goes on like this--with mountains falling into the ocean--for another ninety miles or so.  Gotta love it.

Seal on Line

Harbor Seal -- Fisherman's Wharf, Monterey, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/4.5, 1/800s, ISO: 6400

Poor little guy.  Gal?  Poor little gal, maybe.

I didn't realize the drama that was going on when I was taking these photos.  I thought this seal was just being frisky because the fishing was so good.  Turns out he/she was caught on a fishing line.  That seriously bummed me out when I was processing these photos Saturday evening.

Rocky Point

Rocky Point, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/5.6, 1/80s, ISO: 100

It was a hazy day on Saturday, but I kind of like the effect it had on a few of the shots.  This view of Rocky Creek Bridge from Rocky Point is one of my favorites on the drive to Big Sur.

Humpback Whale

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

 I saw a few humpback whales in Monterey Bay yesterday.  I was actually hoping to go on a whale watching excursion but they were all cancelled in the afternoon due to high winds.  You can see in the photos the water is pretty choppy.  I shot these from shore near Lucas Point in Pacific Grove.  No single shoot is all that interesting but I think they make a fun series.  These are the final photos from a longer series that start from when I spotted his spout.

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Humpback Whale -- Pacific Grove, CA

Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM

Rain in the Driest Place in the United States

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, CA
Canon Powershot SX40 HS

Technically, it is Furnace Creek in Death Valley that is considered the driest place in the United States with an average annual rainfall of  2.3 inches of rain since 1971.  I was just reading that Calexico, CA was actually drier through the first decade of this century by about a half inch a year.  Perhaps in fifty years or so we'll be calling Calexico the driest place in the US.

There have been years when it didn't rain at all in Death Valley.  There have been other years when it had rained so much people were able to go kayaking in Badwater Basin.  Here you can see rain but no kayaks.  It was somewhere in between.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 124, Image #27.

Navajo National Monument

Navajo National Monument, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, f/8, 1/80s, ISO: 100

Navajo National Monument is actually inside the Navajo Reservation.  I'm not sure how that all worked out.  It's a quiet little monument with a number of short hikes to Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings.

OK, I'm not sure how to spell Puebloan or if that's even a word.  Pretty sure it is.  They used to be called Anasazi, now they're called Ancesteal Puebloans.  Pueblans?

Anyway, cliff dwellings are cool.

Square Butte

Square Butte, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, f/7.1, 1/100s, ISO: 100

Simple and lovely.  Among all of the amazing things to be seen in Northern Arizona and Southern Utah, Square Butte would be easy to overlook.  Anywhere else it would probably be a destination unto itself.

Bison Crossing

Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

Did you know that there are buffalo at the Grand Canyon?  I didn't, at least not until I saw this sign a few weeks ago.  They're not real American Bison, not full-blooded anyway.  They're bison/cattle hybrids, same as what you'd find at the Bison Paddock at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.  They're not native to this area, or anywhere really.  I get the impression they're considered a nuisance by the Park folks, but I suspect tourists like them so they're probably tough to just get rid of.  Just guessing, mind you.

Peering Into Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend, AV
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, f/10, 1/100s, ISO: 100

Jim likes to walk out onto the edges of cliffs and look down.  Gives me the willies.

Badwater Basin

Badwater Basin, Death Valley National Park, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

I took this photo on my first trip to Death Valley.  That's rain in the hills in the background.  It doesn't rain there a lot, but it does rain.  It's obvious by how the water has shaped the landscape.  There wasn't really a storm on that day, no flooding or anything, it just came down for a few minutes here and there.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 123, image #17.

The Hike to Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, f/11, 1/125s, ISO: 100

This is roughly the halfway point on the trail to Horseshoe Bend from the parking lot.  It's not a long walk, but it can get very hot and it feels like it's uphill in both directions.  Take water!  It's got a great payoff, though.

Marble Canyon & Vermilion Cliffs

House Rock Valley, AZ
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm L USM, f/10, 1/200s, ISO: 100

There are things I'm sure about, things I'm not so sure about and things just don't know in this photo.  I don't know what the name of the mountain or hill or whatever it is we were on when I took this photo.  It's on a turnout on US Route 89.  That's US Route 89A in the lower left of the photo, I'm sure of that.  I think the valley is called House Rock Valley.  The canyon running through the valley is Marble Canyon, which eventually turns into the Grand Canyon.  The Colorado River is running through it.  Those are the Vermilion Cliffs behind the canyon, and I think behind the Vermilion Cliffs is the Kaibab Plateau.

This area is magical, a destination unto itself  I can't wait to go back.

Ghost Rider Crossing

Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon PowerShot SD770 IS

Remember in junior high when you'd get yourself up to a good speed on your bike and then jump off to see how far you could send your bike down that hill?  Ghost riding, right?  I guess there's a lot of that going on near Jenny Lake.  Doesn't seem like the likeliest of places.  There's no hills or jumps in the vicinity of this sign, anyway.

Point Reyes

Point Reyes National Seashore, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4 L USM, f/8, 1/125s, ISO: 100

I took Pongo to Point Reyes yesterday.  It's one of his favorite day trips.  We saw a lot of cows and a few harriers and elk.  I took a few pictures, nothing all that exciting.  This spot is usually interesting.

Horseshoe Bend

Horseshoe Bend, AZ

Can't go to Arizona without getting a picture of Horseshoe Bend, right?  It's an amazing sight, photos don't do it justice.

Vermilion Cliffs

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, AZ
Canon PowerShot SD770 IS

This is a driving shot.  I took a lot of these on my trip last month, just sticking my camera out the window and shooting blindly as I drove.  Most weren't worth keeping--no surprise there--but every once in a while I'd get something good like this photo.  It's a little fuzzy but I really like the colors.