1916: Sierra Nevada Open!

Shortly AFTER President Woodrow Wilson sent 12,000 United States troops over the Mexico Border in pursuit of Pancho Villa and shortly BEFORE a bomb exploded on Market Street in San Francisco during a "Preparedness Day Parade", killing (10) and injuring (40), my Grandfather drove/delivered a Cadillac over the Sierras to Carson City and brought back another Cadillac to Oakland. Upon his return he contacted the Oakland Tribune to inform them that the passes were generally cleared and ready for travel.

The article pictured above is a clipping that has survived the past 83 years being passed from person to person within my family and box to box housed in various garages in the East Bay. The picture is just a random one of my Grandfather and is not associated with this article. The following are a few interesting portions I've pulled out and provided some observations:

"It befell Keyser's lot to drive it over the mountains, leaving with it at 7:30 o'clock Friday night for Carson, by way of Placerville. The house at Oakland received a telegram from him, dated Saturday morning, at 7:45 o'clock a.m., or a run of twelve hours."

OBSERVATION: 12 hours is a long time, mostly in the dark on probably dicey roads! If it had been me, I would have left in the morning.

On his return trip, "Taking out a stop in Stockton for eating, the running time was exactly ten hours. The mileage on the return trip was 278 miles as he went to Lodi by mistake."

OBSERVATION: I guess the directions and road signs weren't as helpful as they are today. Lodi rather than Stockton? Wish Granddad were around to account for that one.

"He also reports that the road is passable by way of Auburn to Lake Tahoe. There is one small section of snow about 200 yards between the summit and the subway, where a team of horses pull the cars which are now going."

OBSERVATION: Horses? enough said.  

Well just as I started this BLOG, I'll say it again, this sure ain't my Granddad's CA anymore. We all take for granted how easy it is to get up and over the pass/summit to Donner Lake, Truckee and Lake Tahoe. The thought of 12 hour trips, crappy roads and road signs, horses not horse power assisting you over the over summit - truly a ROAD TRIP!

I wonder what my Granddad would think of Tahoe within 3.5 hours, while cranking the Janes Addiction, wolfing down 99 cent cheese burgers and a Starbucks Latte (venti xtra whip, double shot, decaf) in hand with no intention of stopping unless nature calls - oh and gas is $3.15 a gallon! Sounds like a good portion of the adventure has been completely stripped out for us "modern folk". Too bad and I'd like to think he'd agree.

A couple extra pics for to view in detail. Note the old CA Lic Plate with the State Bear on it.

Hike to Paradise

Within two weeks I'll be hiking around the point pictured above. A journey to what I'd consider one of, if not THE, most beautiful spots in CA. Literally Paradise as far as I'm concerned. I've traveled to a lot of places throughout CA and the western United States; Yosemite, the Sierras, Joshua Tree, Carmel, Big Sur, the Smith River, the McCloud, Mt. Shasta, Mt. Lassen, San Juan Mountains, Yellowstone, Wasatch Mountains, Glacier Park, the Rogue River and the Ho Rainforest. All of these destinations are truly beautiful and hold spots in my mind but none are as etched deeply as the area I'll be backpacking into above.

Having a deep appreciation and love for the Pacific Ocean and a consistent yearning to be in the mountains, this area is the perfect combination of both. That is the edge this spot holds over all of  the places listed above. Big Sur comes very close but does not have the same seclusion as this particular area.

Rugged, remote, raw, beautiful, demanding, taxing, exhausting, commanding, terrifying, relaxing, soothing, unrelenting, inspiring, unforgiving, eroding, growing, decaying, flowing, changing, would all be good words to describe this area. This is not car camping, this is not hiking the PCT, it is the most physically taxing hike I've ever taken on. And all 9 miles of it are worth every step, blistered heal, aching hip joint, sun burnt neck and sore ankles.

Where is this area? This is the day and age of the internet (obviously) so I'll let you work a bit to find it. It is not an unknown destination nor an off the map location and I have left several clues within this post (Hell, I've even given you a picture!). If you want it bad enough you'll find it. Good luck - not in finding it, but in making the hike.

Summer has arrived!

This past weekend Summer arrived in the Sunset District, for San Francisco in general. I was in charge of my daughter over the weekend, my Wife declared a "staycation" weekend - a break from the family to focus on and pamper herself - she deserves it. So with all the good weather (and good waves) my daughter and I hung out around the neighborhood. We walked to the beach, did some dune climbing and snapped some pictures together. Turns out an 18 month old can be pretty handy in pointing out the good set waves as you can see below.

I took my daughter down to the Sloat parking lot. Wanting to make sure she did not either fall off the cliff edge or get run over, I kept her in the car with the windows rolled down. It actually worked well and she was content for all of 10-15 minutes. Just enough to snap off a few pics of the "Choi Wan" super typhoon swell that originated just off central Japan last week.

My wife was kind enough to let me sneak out on Sunday for a quick paddle out. Had a great time, saw a lot of good waves come through but did not connect with anything to write home about. Hung out with the dolphins/porpoise for a short time - neat to see them out there.

Summer/Fall is here and life is good.

Mike Stone JUSTICE!!!

So this is what I'll call the Mike Stone JUSTICE editorial section of my BLOG. After having just gotten through the second season of "The Streets of San Francisco" (don't get me started on how great this program is) I find myself wondering how Mike Stone would handle some of the BS we City Dwellers contend with on a daily basis. In my mind I fantasize hearing these words come out of Mike Stone's mouth...

Now of course Mike Stone was too classy of a cop to talk like this but a guy can still fantasize right? So my nominee for the first ever Mike Stone JUSTICE award is...

...THE GUY WHO LETS HIS DOG TAKE A DUMP IN FRONT OF MY HOUSE AND DOESN'T PICK IT UP AFTERWARD!!!

Look out Buddy Boy, with some good old fashioned investigative work, I'll track you down and make you feel the wrath of Mike Stone!!!

FOG of a World Class nature

DAMN!!! There it is again, lazily hanging and ever so slowly creeping into the contours of the City, almost tar like in it's consistency. The past several days, while the entire Bay Area "suffers" from a heat wave, us hearty residents of the Sunset District have been dealing with some truly World Class FOG.

This is not the wind whipped FOG that we typically get pushing through to the East Bay, this FOG bank has just hung over the City's low points and through the Gate. Talk about a change in climate - 60s, wet and dewy when I start my commute to the East Bay, arriving to clear sunny blue skies already tipping into the 70s. Fantastic example of the Bay Area's micro climates.

Carol Schulz, Queen of the Beach, recently stated, "Jeez Dickson, I'm usually a pretty positive person, but this Summer has been pretty bad with the FOG.". This is someone who has lived in the Sunset her whole life and knows it like the back of her hand! You know it is bad if Carol complains about it. Typically by this point in the year we have shaken off our FOGGY weather.

All I can do now is pray for a cold front to sweep through the Bay Area, dust the Sierras with a layer of the Winter Season's first snows and then it will be on... yes our (San Francisco's) Summer will then arrive being blown in via the East! Bye, bye FOG don't let the Gate hit you in the ass on your way out!!!

Grouse Ridge Lookout = BW Inspiration

Took some time away from home to attend my Brother's "Boys Weekend" up in Tahoe / Truckee. Good times. Great food, ample amounts of beer, some serious BS'ing and as always, card playing. Great weekend, short of the serious lack of card abilities, in turn leaded to a deficit by the time I pulled out of the driveway to go home. 

Took a couple of the fellers up to Grouse Ridge Lookout off of HWY 80 and the 20. Great spot to go for a hike. By the time you get up to the parking area you have a seriously commanding view of the scenery 270°.

Was a terrific day of moderate day hiking and lake swimming. There was some weather just off from us the whole time which made for some good photographic opportunities.

Enjoy!

Overcast Skies = BW Inspiration

The dreary weather around San Francisco has served as inspiration for some black and white photography. This is a small collection of images from my recent adventures in and around Golden Gate Park and up in the Marin Headlands. Enjoy.

Lone Battery, Marin Headlands

Lone Sentry, Marin Headlands

Sentry Escape, Marin Headlands

Sunrise, Sunset District

Eucalyptic Ghoul, Golden Gate Park

Ghoul Guarding Trail, Golden Gate Park

Shady Bend, Golden Gate Park

Fall's Start, Golden Gate Park

For those of you that appreciate BW Photography I highly recommend checking out Marty Knapp's work. He is a photographer from Point Reyes Station here in Northern CA. I really enjoy and appreciate his work and have collected a couple of his pieces. A true Artist with a keen eye pointed toward the CA landscape.

Marty Knapp Photographer