Places I’ve enjoyed meeting birds in California, north of San Diego County
After leaving Arivaca Wednesday morning I drove a rural route through Ajo and Gila Bend to Yuma where I spent the night. Thursday morning after having breakfast I launched the last leg of my return from my 2020 Texas Expedition. I crossed the Colorado River and was back on California soil, and already missing the … Read more
Whether your interests are hiking, exploring, shopping for art, camping, mountaineering, relaxing, summer jazz, or just escaping from the hustle of the southern California cities below, the mile-high region around Idyllwild has many attractions. My explorations of this area usually go beyond the town limits. I think of the town as a starting point for … Read more
Midway between Interstate 5 and US-99, 15 miles from Los Banos and 11 miles from Merced California, is the approximate geographic center of California’s Central Valley. It is also the site of the 10,000+ acre Merced National Wildlife Refuge. Prior to the “civilization” of the west, the entire Central Valley of California was a destination … Read more
Wildlife preserves in modern times can serve as reminders of how the natural order of life on this planet was intended. The ravenous demands of an ever expanding society have ground through much of the wondrous original landscapes, leaving behind a trail of homogenized, featureless and damaged versions of its former self. This trend is … Read more
Crowley Lake is located within the Eastern Sierra District in the high country north of Bishop California. It is a large lake on the upper Owens River and part of the Los Angeles DWP district for supplying water to southern California. The lake rests at the lowest edge of the 11 mile by 20 mile … Read more
Tucked into the northwestern corner of California and surrounded by redwoods, you will find the town of Crescent City. When I visit family in Southern Oregon, I enjoy the first leg of my southbound return trip to San Diego, by driving down the Smith River road to the coast. Crescent Harbor surprised me the first … Read more
Cattle Call Park is located on the western edge of Brawley California in the Imperial Valley, close to the Salton Sea. The park takes its name from the rodeo event held here in November. This event draws as many as 200,000 fans, but most of the time it is a relatively quiet place next to … Read more
The Eastern Sierra District, as some call it, is a wondrous region. It stretches over 150 miles from Bridgeport to a few miles south of Lone pine. I see it as comprising two sections; one is low and the other high. The lower elevation section is between Lone Pine and Bishop, where elevations vary between … Read more
At the foot of the Eastern Sierra-Nevada Mountains is a “Big Meadow”, as the town of Bridgeport California was once called. It’s a small town with a population of 575, at an elevation of 6,463, who’s main economy is tourism. I’ve only visited Bridgeport Reservoir once, but I enjoyed my stay there very much. The … Read more
Garner Valley is placed between the sky islands of San Jacinto (10,833′) and Santa Rosa (8,717′) in southern Riverside County. My first visit here was June of 2011 with the San Diego Natural History Museum science team. I’d driven past our camping spot at Morris Creek many times when driving to Idyllwild, only nine miles … Read more
