the mikereport

Friday, March 6, 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

Thursday, March 5, 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.

Wednesday, March 4, 2026

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.

Tuesday, March 3, 2026

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, March 2, 2026

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.

Sunday, March 1, 2026

Ridges, Mt. Tamalpais

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

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

Saturday, February 28, 2026

Mercedes (+Kia)

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

Friday, February 27, 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.

Thursday, February 26, 2026

Liquidambar Trees

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.

Wednesday, February 25, 2026

Moon, February 2 2026

Moon, Hills (Fairfax) - Marin County 2026

Nikon Z7II / 24-200mm lens.

Nice enough, but can't compare to the iconic "Moonrise - Fresno" photo.

Tuesday, February 24, 2026

Shawna's Birthday!

Shawna & Mike (Photo by Hali) - Sierra Nevada 1980

Wow!

So, we were originally camping over in Death Valley, but it got way too hot. So we drove over the mountains to a campsite higher up in Owens Valley. Much cooler!

BTW, those mountains have been the subject of a prior blog post.

Next: Shawna and Hali . . . in Marin County? Alas, no year indicated.