An Amazing Day at Montara Mountain in Pacifica

It was a typically cool June morning in San Francisco. Gene and I were up relatively early for a training hike for our Yosemite trip. Something close to home and spectacular was what I wanted. "California Hiking" gave this one a 10/10 for view with a degree of difficulty of 4/5. Perfect! And only 30 minutes from the Castro. The views and the flora/fauna lived up to the hype. Here's a view looking north and just slightly west toward the town of Pacifica. Mount Tam is in the background.




Can you make out the Tower on top of Twin peaks on the right side of the photograph and the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge somewhere in the middle?




Looking East toward the Bay:



As we neared Montara Mountain, several thistles were in bloom. The silvery stalks end in delicious magenta flowers that the bees were going wild over. The were drunk on the pollen.





















Above is the bee butt shot! To the right the bee appears submerged in the thistle.






And now for the art shot of the day:






And then there's the wild Douglas Iris:



This lizard let me get extremely close before it scuttled off, perhaps hoping its protective coloration would hide it from a potential large predator with a Pentax.




And now for the photograph that put a smile on my face. I have been photographing butterflies since I was in high school. I remember chasing a fickle monarch butterly in Owl Head Park. This one stayed put long enough for me to get perhaps the most gratifying shot of the year.

Turtle Count at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park

It was a beautiful, clear day for a turtle count at Stow Lake. Turtles were basking in the warm sun, though this mammal was a bit cold in shorts and tee shirt.

This threesome looked like they were having a good time:




I spied two turtles hiding along the rocks just off the lake:




Toward the end of the outing, an unusual turtle, basking. Someone must have released this nonnative softshell turtle into the lake:

Gazing Toward the East

One of the great pleasures of my office in Hayes Valley is the small balcony that it opens onto and the views it affords. The War Memorial Opera House and City Hall form the background of this photograph on a rainy-end-of- April day.


Let the sun shine in later in the day:

















Looking due East, I see the wonderful reds of the buildings across from me. The faded white lettering advertises the Estrella Apartments. The area has a star theme with restaurants named Stellines, Della Stella. There was also the late Blue Star records, of blessed memory.






And as I work into the gloaming (always looking for an excuse to use that word), the sky takes on a wonderful hue.

Iron Woman of Hayes Valley

The transformation of Hayes Valley in San Francisco is almost complete with the arrival of a giant iron woman who has ensconced herself in the small park at the end of the Octavia Freeway. Captured in a pose of pure frustration, she questions the chaos of the universe. Where and how do we locate meaning?