The fact there was no sign should’ve been a sign things wouldn’t go quite right. My goal was to get from Kelso to Hole-in-the Wall/Banshee...

Dear Park Service, Please pipe in water from a hot spring to fill the old livestock tank at Barker Dam. Hot water in one section, hotter...

Slip through here, climb up there, no problem  The act of moving on feet and hands over rugged terrain has been given too many finely s...

Thanks again to Josh, of California Through My Lens , for pointing me toward another fun hike. The hike starts with an easy stroll along t...

The midweek winter “crowd” is thin. It’s pretty much surfers before work, moms and tykes during the day after it warms up, a handful of fo...

Enjoying the Pacific Foot Wash The hat works for both desert and beach It was beach time this afternoon. Not nearly-naked-and-frol...

This is the view from my campsite at Crystal Cove State Park, just north of Laguna Beach. It’s pricey, but it’s good to be back at the oce...

Like so many other things, I discovered California Through My Lens thanks to a YouTube recommendation. Josh’s videos and blog pointed me t...

The large angled rock used to be part of the large upright rock I usually enter Joshua Tree from the south. I’ve driven past the Cotton...

Most hikes I’ve taken have a section that’s just drudgery. But I’ve needed to keep slogging along in order to get to the cool parts, or to g...

I had never seen a type of cholla like the one a saw on this morning’s hike in Joshua Tree National Park. Short branches all neatly, geometr...

From outside Joshua Tree National Park, looking toward Indio and Palm Springs

This building on the fringes of Borrego Springs has been a number of things over the years. Now it’s a target for tagging and vandalism. And...

There’s a slot canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park imaginatively named the Slot. While the famous slot canyons of the Colorado Plateau ...