Hill, Clouds / Erosion

Shrub, Hill, Cloud - Owens Valley  1976

Erosion, Mountains, Snow - Owens Valley  1976

I'm labeling these as taken in Owens Valley because of the snow covered mountains. Although you could also find much the same views in Death Valley, to be sure.

Clouds, Shadows

Lenticular Clouds - Death Valley  1976

Sun, Shadows, Clouds - Death Valley  1976

"Pilots of powered aircraft tend to avoid flying near lenticular clouds because of the turbulence and sinking air at their trailing edge, but glider pilots actively seek them out in order to climb in the upward-moving air at the leading edge."

Neat lens flares in the bottom photo. I was using a Nikon F SLR with a 50mm lens.

Monday Willet Blogging

Willets - Sonoma County  1976

I've listed the location as Sonoma County, but that's a guess. Don't remember taking this, but it's right there on the contact sheet.

"The willet is a particularly elegant and heavily built shorebird" says Wikipedia. So it seems! Bird ID from Barbara, as usual.

Photo cropped from a 35mm negative taken by a Nikon F SLR.

Red Hill

Red Hill (Owens Valley) - Inyo County  1976

Looks to be an early sunrise photo (based on the shadows). There's an earlier photo of the cone on the blog taken in 2022.

Bobo's Bonanza

Bobo's Bonanza Coffee Shop (Lone Pine) - Owens Valley  1976

The one photo on the contact sheet that has a definite location. Old timers still remember Bobo's Bonanza fondly. 

In fact, I still have Bobo's business card pinned to the corkboard next to the computer.

Bobo's Bonanza Business Card (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

March, 1976

Hali, Mike, Elk Cove Bed and Breakfast - Mendocino County  1976

Hali, Mike, Sky Camp - Point Reyes  1976

Unlike most film photos, I can definitely put an exact month and year to these ones. Fun!

Top photo: Hali and Mike at a bed and breakfast in Elk Grove, Mendocino County.

Bottom: Hali and Mike camping out at Sky Camp in Point Reyes. 

50 years ago!

Ubehebe Crater / Camp Site

Ubehebe Crater - Death Valley  1976

Vehicle, Rocks, Mountains - Death Valley  1976

So, I remember nothing about this trip, but the top photo of Ubehebe Crater is proof that we visited Death Valley. 

I'm thinking that the vehicle in the bottom photo is my trusty Chevrolet Vega parked in a secluded desert spot, possibly in the Red Hill / Fossil Falls area.  Probably we camped there.

Sierra Crest - 1976

Mt. Whitney, Clouds - Owens Valley  1976

Sierra Crest - Owens Valley  1976

Taken in the winter, mountains covered in snow. Next year we were able to get to the summit of Mt. Whitney.

Desert Water

Desert Pond - Owens Valley  1976

Desert River - Owens Valley  1976

I'm thinking Owens Valley as a location due to the water features. That might not be a river in the bottom photo - maybe recent rain water in a wash.

Monday Cat Blogging

White Cat (Cloverdale) - Sonoma County  1976

Taken in March, 1976, as we were driving up to Elk Cove for a bed and breakfast stay.

Can't remember exactly why we stopped in Cloverdale, but I do remember the cat scooting by me, then leaping up on the fence, waiting there just long enough for me to take the photo.

I used a Nikon F SLR with Panatomic-X film.

Desert Hills

Cloud, Desert Hills - Death Valley  1976

Cloud, Desert Hills - Death Valley  1976

I've been scanning some 1976 negatives recently and found some interesting desert scenes, evidently taken by me in the first quarter of 1976.

I don't remember the trip! I think that my brother Joe and I took a quick excursion northeast from Los Angeles to some of our favorite spots in Owens and Death Valleys. I've listed the location of these photos as Death Valley . . . they certainly look Death Valley-ish.

San Francisco Sightems

Giants - San Francisco  2026

Brick Building - San Francisco  2026

Lower photo taken using the iPhone's wide angle option, then perspective-corrected in Photoshop. I've illustrated this procedure in an earlier post.

San Francisco Sightems

AI Billboard - San Francisco  2026

St. Ignatius - San Francisco  2026

The church has appeared before in the blog, peeking out over a parked Waymo. Someday I must actually walk by for a better view.

San Francisco Costco

Costco Hot Dog - San Francisco  2026

Costco Asian Products - San Francisco  2026

For various reasons we found ourselves having the famous hot dog meal at the Costco in San Francisco.

What a value! 

It was interesting that the various Asian food products available almost rivaled H Mart.

Richmond Bridge, San Quentin

Richmond Bridge - Marin County  2026

San Quentin Buildings - Marin County  2026

Photos taken with a Sony RX100 while taking the ferry over to San Francisco.

By the way, San Quentin is now officially known as "San Quentin Rehabilitation Center." Interesting writeup in Wikipedia.

San Francisco Bay Bridge

Bay Bridge through Ferry Window - San Francisco  2026

Bay Bridge, Clouds - San Francisco  2026

Photos taken with an iPhone from the Larkspur-San Francisco ferry.

Monday Crow Blogging

Crows, Tree Branches (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Crows, Fog (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Morning walk crows.

Golden Gate Bridge

Golden Gate Bridge (with shadow) & Sutro Tower - Marin County  2026

Golden Gate Bridge, Traffic - Marin County  2026

Two vertical photos taken from the Marin County scenic view overlook in the afternoon.

Note Sutro Tower off in the distance in the upper photo.

Fairfax Hike - 5

Oak Tree (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Labyrinth (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Photos taken during my hike high above Fairfax:

- A dramatic backlit oak tree, and

- a folk art labyrinth with Mount Tamalpais in the background.

Towards the end there was a steep descent into more familiar territory and back home. 

Yikes, 29 flights climbed!

Apple Watch (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Fairfax Hike - 4

Meditation Pergola (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Hiking along the ridge trail above Fairfax, I spotted this cool meditation site along with a depiction of Guru Rinpoche.

Guru Rinpoche (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Fairfax Hike - 3

Serpentinite, Mt. Tamalpais (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Once I managed to make it up to the ridge above the water tank the views looking south became quite nice - sunrise in the east illuminating Mt. Tamalpais to my south.

Fairfax Hike - 2

Upper Trail (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Upper Fence (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

So, the road ended at a water tank, with no obvious way to continue on. But peering up I could make out some wooden fences located high above. I resolved to make it up to the fences, which I managed to do by scrabbling through the wet grass using both feet and hands. Once at the top some trails appeared.

Fairfax Hike - 1

Mystery Road (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Water Tank (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

 On our regular morning walks we frequently pass a road leading up into the hills leading to . . . somewhere unknown.

I recently resolved to hike up the road to see what I could find. As I had speculated, the road ended at a large water tank. But I wanted to see if I could keep on hiking . . . our friend Bob had said that there was a way to continue on up.

Monday Towhee Blogging

California Towhee (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

"Along the Pacific seaboard from southern Oregon to Baja, this plain brown bird is a common denizen of brushy places, from wild chaparral hillsides to the borders of gardens and city parks. California Towhees sometimes hide in the shrubbery, where they may be noticed mainly by their sharp callnotes and the squealing duets of mated pairs. At other times they come out on open ground, to scratch in the leaf-litter with both feet as they search for food."

It was perched on a car's rearview mirror for some reason, waiting long enough for me to turn the Sony RX100 on and zoom in for this shot.

Ridges, Mt. Tamalpais

Ridges, Mt. Tamalpais (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

 Taken during a recent hike I took in the Fairfax hills above our house.

Mercedes (+Kia)

Mercedes Benz (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Mercedes Benz (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

 Nice looking Mercedes parked near my gym . . . I've seen it a couple of times. Very cool: gray, but matte gray. I'm going to request the same finish the next Mercedes that I get. 

Although black is also quite satisfactory.

[UPDATE: Walking around in back of Costco yesterday, just saw a new Kia with . . . matte gray paint job! Maybe a coming thing?]

Kia - Marin County  2026

Kids Clothes

Kids Clothes on Fence (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Very colorful. Clothes taken off during the hurly-burly of kid activities, then forgotten.

Reminds me a little of Teakettle Junction.

Liquidambar Trees

Liquidambar Leaves (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Liquidambar Leaves (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Also known as "sweetgum" trees. But I've never heard them called that - not in Fairfax anyway.

We were traveling in New York in 2018, looking for some autumn colors, but not really seeing any. Much nicer foliage when we returned to Marin County, thanks to these trees.