ramblings of a Seattle travel, food and photography hound
It was just to take a quick look at Pismo Beach State Park in California. My wife and I wound up hanging around for almost two hours, enjoying the ride in our Jeep rental onto the sandy beach to watch the pounding surf. Then, we noticed what we first thought were sandpipers but were instead whimbrels. If... Continue Reading →
They were everywhere, the caterpillars of the white-lined Sphinx moth, in a field of wildflowers at Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in southern California. I saw one, then noticed more—and more. Some plants had as many as four chomping away at their flowers. What seemed like different species of bug turns out to be the same,... Continue Reading →
I've taken a trail near my house many times and have never come across this fungus, which was growing on a Douglas fir stump. Laetiporus conifericola has striking yellow and orange coloring, difficult to miss when approaching it. It's said to be edible and taste like chicken or crab, thus the common names chicken-of-the-woods and crab-of-the-woods, but I'm not in the... Continue Reading →
For a native Northwest coast mollusk, the banana slug is only spotted in the wild, it seems to me, vastly outnumbered in urban Seattle settings by the black and red slugs. The only times I've seen the bananas recently have been on forest trails where they are clearly visible as they cross your path. Yellowish in color, often... Continue Reading →
There seem to be more butterflies this year, a result of our mild winter and warm spring perhaps. I was recently taking a photograph of a common foxglove plant (Digitalis purpurea) in the Cougar Mountain Regional Park when a tiger swallowtail suddenly appeared.
California is a really long state. In the north-south direction, drivers traditionally traverse the state on either U.S. 101 or Interstate 5. Highway 101 is more picturesque, going through seaside towns and redwood forests and boasting gorgeous coastal scenery and mild weather. It's also slower. Travelers wanting to make haste take I-5, but south past Redding the penalty... Continue Reading →
It's not so easy to find old-growth forest within Seattle city limits anymore, yet Seward Park has the Magnificent Forest featuring evergreen trees aged 200 years or more. The park was designed by the famous Olmstead brothers and remains a wonderful legacy of a time when city officials saw fit to set aside forested areas for public enjoyment. It occupies all... Continue Reading →
In the next few months, my wife and I will be conditioning ourselves for a trip to Peru and Bolivia later in the year. High-altitude hiking in the Andes will be punishing enough without even taking into consideration demand on legs, knees and lungs. Our first real hike of the year was yesterday, the popular Little Si Trail... Continue Reading →
I know I was bowled over when I first laid eyes on Waimea Canyon more years ago than I care to count. I was no less impressed when I saw it again yesterday. Nicknamed Grand Canyon of the Pacific for obvious reasons, it is a testament to the power of water erosion and faulting. The view above is from the... Continue Reading →
This one-mile-long canopy of eucalyptus trees lines Maluhia Road north of Koloa and Poipu, a beautiful grand entrance to Kauai's South Shore.
zoomeboshi 