Big Basin 2026

 Back in 2020, there was a large fire in the Santa Cruz Mountains called the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. The fire took out a lot of Big Basin State Park. The main Headquarters, the museum, the visitor center, and much more all burned down to the ground.

I originally had ambitions to bike from my house all the way to the park headquarters and back about mid-July. But after doing what I considered a few training rides, I reassessed my abilities and pulled back on my ambitions. 

Even as recently as my 50s and early 60s, I could do a ride like this. Admittedly, it took me longer than when I was in my 20s to 30s. But I could still bite off a ride like this and complete it in a reasonable amount of time.

However, I am now in my 70s. Just grinding my way up to Saratoga Gap is now what I would consider a long-distance goal. Back in my late 30s, I would ride up to Skyline and down Page Mill just to get to work at Stanford Hospital. Of course, that would be on the day when I long did the second half of the day shift.

On that day, I would stop at Horseshoe Lake and eat my lunch. Then fly down Page Mill Road to Junipero Serra and then to the hospital. Change clothes in the restroom and begin my day.

That was then, and this is now. So on Wednesday, Janet and I drove to Big Basin Park. Along the way, we stopped a few times so I could take some images. Then, when we reached the main part of the park, we got out and walked a few of the trails.

These images are what I thought captured the day. I DID download a couple of images of what the park looked like before the fire for comparison. I've pointed out those images in this posting.

After The Rains Came

On this hike over to and back from RSA, we noticed a significant dusting of snow on Mount Hamilton. We've seen this before, but it's not the kind of thing that happens all the time. Only when the weather conditions are just right.

Along the route we take, we go past the old Hammond-Snyder house.

When we reached The Pond, we saw one of the local California newts, or orange-bellied newts. They're not very swift on land, but I still had a little trouble getting a face on view for the next image.

On our way back from The Pond, I had to stop and snap a shot of the bright green grass. It had an almost day-glow brightness to it.

I believe this is an Amanita mushroom. I'm just not sure which species.

A wide shot of the field from the north side. Typically, we take the path on the other side of those Oak trees

 

Love Those Tiny Droplets

 Alright. It's been a while since I posted some of my images online. So here are a few images I've recently captured to bring this Blog up to date. I'll continue to upload more images as time goes by.

Here are a few images I took on a morning after we had some rain. Before I got back home, the rain had returned. Chasing me back inside.

Then, a few days before the rains arrived, I took some images on a hike over to and back from Rancho San Antonio. Plus a selfie because I don't think I've put any images of myself online in a while.

That's it for now. At least until we have a break in the rain. Then I'll add some more.

Here are a few images to start off the year

 No particular order here. Just some images that I thought looked pretty good. You'll again notice my obsession with tiny water droplets, water flowing, and reflections on the surface of water.

This image and the next few are some long exposure images several seconds long.

Some Images from Dec of 2025

 Most of these images were taken on a very foggy morning. Janet and I hiked over to Rancho San Antonio.

These are some slightly past tense mushrooms.

This "Face" is just a randomly occurring thing that presented itself to me.

Now this is what happens when a Dandelion seed head gets dowsed with fog.