I heard a canyon wren out in the rocks as the sun set. I was inside watching Life Aquatic with Judy... but the sound is distinctive enough i heard it right through the window. Judy was asleep.

I've never heard a canyon wren so close to the ocean.

Then after it got dark, after everyone went to bed, i wandered outside. i heard waves crashing down along the beach. There are big waves, according to Jeff. it sure sounded like it was true. I could also hear the creek down below. The water level is dropping now that summer is here. Soon it will be back to the normal trickle... right now it still flows with spring runoff, although the last big storm was several months ago.

I wish i could hear the waves from my bed but my window faces the wrong way.

here is the sierras from somewhere near Big Pine driving home. I don't have pictures of most of the stuff we did around the Mammoth area... soaking in hot springs, checking out the lakes, driving through a big thunderstorm, or drinking a bunch of beer at French Camp. But those activities ruled. It was a great trip and although i am sad that it is over, i will be back out there next month. 

the White Mountains had gotten a new dusting of snow... a lot of it melted off when a rainstorm hit it... but even still, it is rather late to be getting snow. Also if you look closely at the mountain to the left (glass mountain) you will see a random area which got snow dumped on it. That melted off too. 

Mono Lake is a huge lake... and this year the lake level rose a whole foot due to the extra runoff 

Mono Lake and an approaching storm 

near the top of Tioga Pass 

Neal and a stunted Jeffrey Pine 

Clouds Rest and the back of Half Dome 

there was still a ton of snow around 8000 feet. 

Alex gets a phone number! from a religious nut! 

they must have sprouted on a downed log or something 

these photos don't really do the sequoias justice. 

hug a tree 

a black bear with a neat cinnamon coloring 

Lower Yosemite Falls 

Lupine and a barn 

Yosemite Falls flowing like mad 

this is Ribbon Falls... usually dry by mid spring but still going strong this year 

the same waterfall from a bit further away 

the viewing area for the waterfall, which is hundreds of yards from its base, is completely drenched by spray. 

Bridalveil falls with TONS of water... the spray was flying everywhere. Much of the snow that we got over the wet winter is melting now. At the peak of the snowmelt a month ago the valley was actually flooding. 

Driving out of the San Joaquin valley towards the Sierra foothills. the transition into the mountains on the west side is so gradual you almost don't notice you have gone from flat ground to steep hills. This is in contrast to the east side of the sierras which is a solid rock wall that just rises out of the ground.

there it is... take it! 

Yosemite

So, i am about to leave to drive up to Yosemite to hang out with my old SCA crew. It will rule, the mountains are full of fast-melting snow and the waterfalls will be full. Even better, i will get to see friends i havent seen since April. It will be a good weekend.. and next week pictures will follow.

They are doing construction outside our house. When i looked out the front door today this is what i saw. It is a bit of a pain. 

Is there a bear in the malibu hills?

This week we had a very reliable sighting of a bear in Cheeseboro Canyon, which is just north of the 101 freeway in the Simi Hills. Having bears in this area is rare, although not unheard of... farther north in the Santa Susana Mountains and in the Las Padres area, bears are common The Cheeseboro Canyon area is a rather stark grassland this time of year with little in the way of berries, grubs, and other things bears like. However, today we had another, uncomfirmed report of the bear east of Las Virgines canyon, SOUTH of highway 101! Although the sighting was not official and can not be verified for sure, bears are pretty hard to misidentify... so this means it is very possible that there is a bear in the Santa Monica Mountains (Malibu Hills) right now!

The area has some large, relatively pristine areas, such as the 'Big Wild' around Topanga State Park in the east, the Malibu Canyon/Castro Crest area, Zuma-Trancas canyon, and Boney Ridge/Point Mugi. Although chaparral, the dominant vegetation type, is not prime habitat for black bears, it is propable that a bear would survive in these areas if it found one of the larger parcels. However, bears tend to be lazy and like human food, and with the large temptation in the rather populated area, there is a good chance the bear could become habituated to human food and end up being removed from the area, or dying. Bears which lose their fear of humans sometimes end up being shot, and even if this is not the case, a bear which likes hanging around settled areas is at risk of being hit by a car. Anyway, this guy (or girl) has a good chance of surviving, so we wish the best for it. Perhaps it will even end up crossing paths with one of the handful of mountain lions which still roam the area.

One of the most amazing things about this is that the bear managed to cross highway 101 - a major interstate with constant traffic at all hours of the night. Most likely the bear either crawled through a small culvert or waltzed on across an overpass. Bears are less skittish than mountain lions, so the latter is certainly possible.

I hope it makes its way down to Solstice... imagine a bear wandering about near my house!

take the westbound signs

june 23, 2003:

This post was deemed too 'emo' and has been deleted by me. Things are better now.

heres how the view out the window looks when i am unhappy and things arent going as they should. 

blurry hipsters