Thor's Well // Devil's Churn // Cape Perpetua - Oregon

 I took on a photography mission to capture Thor's Well on October 30th. Unfortunately, optimal Thor's Well conditions occur at high tide...more specifically a high tide ranging from around 5 to 7 feet. Furthermore, for long-exposure shots those conditions have to be met as the sky gets dark. That criteria wouldn't occur until 2am, which was okay, because the moon was nearly full, so there would be light illuminating the scene. On the way from Eureka to Yachats, Oregon...the town near Thor's Well, I stopped in Brookings, OR and got a nice long-exposure of water flowing around a rock outcrop at sunrise. I also worked the Devil's Churn area near Cape Perpetua during the sunset hours. I messed around a bit too much and didn't get a good shot until just after the sun set. The colors in the sky and leading lines in the water were great. I then got a few hours of sleep in Yachats, woke up right before midnight, and drove out to Thor's Well. Navigating the sharp lava rock and pools of water by moonlight was not easy (my feet got very wet), but I managed. I then worked the Well for a few hours and got a couple of keepers. Those pictures and other seascapes are posted here.

Golden Gate Photography Tour

 I hit a couple of classic locations for photographing the Golden Gate Bridge during late October. The first site was at Marshall's Beach. I departed for the beach at 2 AM from a hotel in Petaluma, and encountered a series of sketchy experiences, starting with running over a large object on the 101 at freeway speeds. That was followed by parking at the Golden Gate Overlook parking lot, which featured a large sign warning of smash and grab activity in the lot. That was on my mind the whole morning. Next, I attempted to down climb a 100 foot sea cliff to get to the beach. I ran into a large drop-off that disappeared into darkness. I decided to turn around and go look for a proper trail...which I did eventually find. I then realized I was in the dark and mountain lions probably occasionally roam this stretch of urban wilderness. Next I reached my photography site on the beach, and had to set up shop on an outcrop of rocks in order to avoid the building high tide. Finally, this site is just a mile or so from the epicenter of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which created a funny kind of feeling. Otherwise, I got some great pictures of the bridge as dawn light spread across the Golden Gate terrain passage.

The next photography site I hit was a place called Slacker Ridge//Slacker Hill. It sits high above the Marin Headlands on the north side of the Golden Gate, and has an expansive view of the San Francisco Bay and downtown area. I took a series of images as the sun set, and was particularly happy with images that captured car streaks weaving around the hills below. Finally, I came for sunrise photography at Battery Spencer, which is a point located right next to the bridge, thus providing dramatic up-close photography opportunities. Unfortunately, fog was thickening around the bridge, which would block a view of the rising sun. I thus decided to take a few pictures during the late night, and then head back home to Eureka.

Some of the pictures discussed in this post can be found here.

Photography Website

 I've started developing a photography portfolio that you can check out here. I'm particularly happy with the cityscape photography in the portfolio featuring the Golden Gate Bridge.

Baker Beach Seascapes - Trinidad, California

 A couple of test shots from my new Canon EOS R5 at Baker Beach near Trinidad, California. Cloudy skies made for poor lighting, but I tried to make the best of it. The length of time to expose incoming waves was particularly tricky, since a longer exposure would blow out the whites, while a short exposure would yield an image that was too dark due to cloudy skies. Otherwise, it was a fun evening next to the surf zone, and I managed to avoid getting too wet.

Location of Baker Beach is here.

Pyramid Peak - Sierra Nevada Mountains

 Amy Schreiber and myself had a great time on Pyramid Peak during early October. The trail was steep on the way up, at least in sections, but wasn't too terribly bad. The terrain opened up about halfway through the ascent, and we had some fun scrambling on those Sierra Nevada granite slabs. The final section to the summit was also an enjoyably sustained section of boulders. Views from the top were nice but not spectacular...I did like looking down upon Desolation Valley and Lake Aloha. We then descended back to Highway 50, cleaned up, and followed that with a dinner in Placerville at the Bricks Eats & Drinks.

Map of Pyramid Peak is here.

Growing Pains Podcast

 I had the pleasure to take part in the Growing Pains podcast during mid September. Nicholas Flores is the host, and did an outstanding job putting me at ease while asking intriguing and very thoughtful questions. An hour and a half flew by as we mainly discussed topics in meteorology, especially tornadoes. This was a great experience for me. I'm grateful to have participated, and I recommend checking out the podcast website here.

Geneva, Switzerland

 My final day in Europe (at least as far as Summer 2023 is concerned) was spent traveling by train from Grindelwald, Switzerland to Geneva. After departing the train at the Geneva Airport, Carly Kovacik and myself battled the late summer European heat, eventually finding our hotel transport near the lower level departures section of the Airport (this was an ordeal, but that's another story). We checked into the NA Geneva Airport Hotel, acquired a couple of free transport passes, and then boarded light rail transit with a destination to the center of the city. We got off the rail at the Gare de Geneva station, and then spent a few hours trekking through old parts of the city. The architecture was about like I imagined it would be...very old world/old European, stone streets, narrow canyon like roadways. The Saint Pierre Cathedral was probably the highlight of our architectural adventure...very gothic, very ornate, very impressive. After the cathedral, we decided it was time to eat. We spent sunset eating outdoors along a busy street at the Italian restaurant Chez Marino. I spoke a bunch of mixed languages at Chez, hoping our waiter would understand one of them and deliver the meals we wanted. The waiter seemed amused and graciously played along with my ignorance. After dinner, we took a route back to the train station that generally followed Lake Geneva, then crossed the Rhone, and soon jumped on a train back to the hotel.

Map of Chez Marino situated in the heart of Geneva is here.

Chamonix and Surrounding Hikes

 Carly Kovacik and myself took the Mountain Drop Off transfer service from the Geneva Airport to Chamonix, which I highly recommend utilizing, especially if you are doing the Tour du Mont Blanc. After getting our drop-off, we checked into an amazing Airbnb that overlooked the center of town as well as Mont Blanc towering above town. 

During our time in Chamonix, we spared no expense when it came to fine dining, enjoying an Italian meal at  Casa Valerio, French cuisine at Le Serac, more French at La Moraine, and fine outdoor dinning at Le Carrousel. My attempt at speaking the French language was a constant embarrassment, and locals let me know just how bad it was on several occasions. But that's okay, it was part of the experience, and I'm sure everyone in Chamonix is used to it by now. 

Otherwise, trekking and exploring the surrounding mountains was our primary objective. Day 1 in the French Alps featured a gondola ride up the Les Flegere in Les Praz. From the terminus of the gondola we hiked up to Lac Blanc, which is likely one of the most photographed alpine likes in the world. We also acquired the bonus lake Lac de la Perseverance. We then hustled back down to the gondola in order to avoid approaching storms. The second day of Alps adventuring included a train ride up to Mer de Glace, which is a glacier that is rapidly disappearing...only hints of its former glory were visible from the visitor center. We then hiked the Grand Balcon Nord. The scenery was classic Alps, goats and sheep posed for us from time to time, and I got some really good practice saying "Bonjour." Robust thunderstorm development occurred once again during mid afternoon, with one storm in particular noisily producing thunder above a surrounding peak. We had to go off trail for a few miles in order to save time reaching the down climb back into the valley and into the relative safety of the forest. The off trail trek was interesting with lots of route finding, steep down climbs, swift creek crossings, and nervous gazes at the storm approaching from above. We made it down safe and sound, and gained an Alps memory in the process.

The third adventure was a cable car ride up to the Aiguille du Midi, which is a marvel of engineering perched atop a rocky spire adjacent to Mont Blanc. This was a great photo and video opp of the dramatic surrounding glaciated peaks and vertical mountain terrain.

Our time in Chamonix was far too short. I am positive I will be back in the future, either to do the 100+ mile Tour du Mont Blanc, or an attempt to obtain the summit of Mont Blanc itself.

Map of Chamonix is here. YouTube video is here.