Sally and Raven took us up to the old mining town of Bennettville in the Tioga Pass area, then up to icy lakes above the 10,000 foot elevation. Snowy mountains surrounding the lakes with puffy clouds made the scenery even more dramatic this day and the dogs always add an extra fun actor!

My dog Sally took me on a hike up to beautiful Lady Lake in the Ansel Adams Wilderness where we saw some gorgeous high lakes with backdrops of snow covered mountains.

Harlequin lupine always put a smile on my face and they are in their prime bloom right now, right along the trail, on the way up to Alder Creek Falls. There were many other colorful wildflowers, including larkspur, pretty face, paintbrush, dogwoods, snow plants and the beautiful mariposa lilies.

Bright, clear blue skies contrasted with iced over Upper Cathedral Lake and the snow covered mountains. And when I say those skies were bright blue, I really mean it!

Frozen high lakes in the Tioga Pass area and snow covered mountains with building clouds were the backdrop for our latest adventure.

Tioga Road Opens!!May 2 is a pretty early date for Tioga Road to open, so you know what Sally and I did. On opening day, we took a drive and hike across the higher country to see what the snow conditions were and I thought you might like to see what we saw. (click photos to enlarge)

Mom and my dog Sally were in search of blooming dogwoods and we headed up to Nelder Grove, just out of Oakhurst. We saw a few of those dogwoods starting to bloom, along with gooseberry and apple. It was my mom’s first visit to Nelder Grove and I think she was quite impressed with those huge Giant Sequoias, thousands of ...

It was the first day after Glacier Point Road opened up for the season and you know that I had to get into the higher country. Did you know that Ostrander Lake is the primary source of Bridalveil Creek, which feeds Bridalveil Falls?

Wildflowers are definitely the star along this trail, but we also had a lot of critters to keep us company on our hike along the San Joaquin River.

Mom and I headed to Bodega Bay, located about 65 north of San Francisco, for an adventure. We relaxed, ate lots of fresh sea food and explored some new country, including a visit to Fort Ross.