Author Archives: admin

October 30, 2021 Rituals

Slime Mold (Stemonitis axifera)

Space Balls (Lycogala epidendrum)

The mushroom season has officially started! With over 2 inches of needed rain last week in the Bay Area, I started the hunt at the same location as last year; the coast redwoods in Santa Cruz county. 

I was ecstatic when I spotted slime mold just a few feet from my car on a decaying log after parking; the same luck as last winter. Usually when there are mushrooms or fungi in the parking lot, you know you’ll spend the entire day there. But despite initial luck and hiking a mile, it didn’t seem like there were anything larger than a quarter inch, perhaps it was still early in the winter season. Wolf’s Slime Milk (Lycogala epidendrum) was abundant, so much so I couldn’t stop myself from having fun popping some of them. Nevertheless, I could not be more thrilled photographing some creepy looking fungi for Halloween weekend. Hopefully La Niña produces a good rainy season this year because there are still a plethora of mushrooms I still have on my list to find!

September 21, 2021 Feels Like Fall

Feels Like Fall. September 2021

After one of the gloomiest summers ever, Karl the Fog finally decided to leave town in the midst of the night. 

You know it is the first day of fall (or start of summer in SF) when the daily high temperature rises above 70F along the coast and there is not a cloud in the sky. The first ground swell showed up along with the first offshore wind of the season; surfers racing to the get their session in before the work day.

It was a magical morning with the dawn color palette, the moon setting right at sunrise, pelican formations, and spotting fickle a-frames. I remember when I was back in high school, the best weather would always coincide with the first week of school and all I wanted to do was be at the beach. Luckily working from home today, I got to witness the lunch time glass off and then enjoy the evening dolphin show. 

There’s no place like home. 

September 11, 2021

Star Party. September 2021

After a whole month of staying home, I feel completely stagnant; losing motivation to do work but can’t find enough motivation to change my routine.

The smoke finally cleared this weekend for a chance of Milky Way. With the coast too risky due to the lingering fog bank, we headed south to Pinnacles National Park.

Driving on the highway and looking at distant subjects and framing compositions, I felt a sense of calmness. Hiking through the chaparral, hearing the crickets chirp, feeling the warm breeze, and seeing sunset colors made me appreciate again what the great outdoors has to offer. 

As we were waiting the moon to set, we met other star gazers in the parking lot. A special thank you to Jim and Alex for letting us peer into their telescope setups. I saw the rings of Saturn, Jupiter and its orbiting moons, M22, and other star clusters. I felt like I was five years old again, peering through a telescope in my backyard at the moon and realizing how much I love astronomy.

I’m reminded again that inspiration is out there if you just go. 

July 26, 2021

After tossing and turning all night long from not showering after a long sweaty hike, I woke up to mostly cloudy skies. The sky looked bleak, thick clouds accompanying the already hazy atmosphere. As I left the campsite, I saw a large thunderhead to the north, which was where I was headed. I contemplated again, should I head home early or keep going? No cell service so I couldn’t check any forecasts. Well, I’ve driven this far, might as well try. 

As I drove north into the storm, the sun hid behind the clouds and it started to downpour. By some miracle when I got to Burney Falls, it mostly sunny skies with just a few high clouds. I waited for the sun to be at a higher angle to illuminate the bright blue water. My eyes lit up looking at the blue glow on my dome port with plentiful trout at the base of the falls. That glow, just wow.

Life is all about taking risks. If you don’t take risks, you can’t have fun. Maybe 1 out of 100 trips for me was a waste of time but I would only consider it a waste of time if I didn’t learn anything. It’s always better to go and potentially get skunked than to not go and regret it later. You won’t know unless you go. Sometimes you’ll score and the opportunity may never return again.

600 miles
1 wet wetsuit
No expectations. 

July 25, 2021 Risk It

Last year, I had to cancel my trip to Butte Lake due to wildfires. I re-booked it again for this September but the outlook for wildfires is not looking good this year either unfortunately, with several large fires already happening. A campsite opened up last week so I thought I would go this weekend in case I had to call off my September trip, again. 

Well, even the early bird may not get the worm. The AQI on airnow.gov showed ‘unhealthy’ for today. The forecast looked to improve but judging by the webcams, it was going to be smoky. Was it going to be completely smoked out? Should I cancel? I was still debating at 10am. 

  1. Forfeit and stay home 
  2. Stop contemplating and just go

I hit the road. Ah, the open highway takes away some of my anxiety from the work week. It was hazy skies up north but still plentiful sunlight. It wasn’t until I headed east on 44 it started to get dense.  

After about 5 hours of driving, I arrived late afternoon. As expected, super smoky skies, but hey could be worse. Despite the questionable air quality, I started the Cinder Cone hike from my campsite which was luckily adjacent to the trail. After hiking through the forest, I saw the cinder cone, an ash volcano. It immediately brought me back memories to Cerro Negro in Nicaragua; I imagined myself sand boarding down the steep slope. 

It didn’t take me long to hike up, despite the infamous two steps forward, one step back. I was the lone soul at the top. For the next 3 hours, there was nothing but the sound of the wind and static on my radio from the Inspiration Point repeater. I was running around the cone looking for the best compositions as the sun turned into an orange sphere. Even through the haze, I still got some decent shots of the Painted Dunes. I managed to finish the 4 mile loop and make it back to the campsite just before it got completely dark. 

July 18, 2021 The Universe

I made it to Old Ski Bowl at 11pm, the end of Everitt Memorial Highway that climbs Mt Shasta. It was much more devoid of campers compared to last year as I was the lone car on the side of the road. No company for tonight but I’ll take it. Again, I had to process that I was here almost exactly one year ago, chasing the moon light. 

The moon was still glaring but I could see the galactic dust of the Milky Way. I knew my window of opportunity was going to be moonset to the crack of dawn, about 1am to 4:50am. I decided to try and nap just to pass some time and avoid the pesky mosquitoes, but also so I wouldn’t feel languid on the drive back home. 

My alarm sounded at 12:45am. I noticed the moon about to set and the Milky Way core getting brighter; I jumped out of my car in excitement and started setting up the camera. I stood in the dark and cold for the next several hours, treated to a spectacular display of the celestial sky: the moon, the planets and stars. The waxing moon turned deep orange as it set over the horizon, reminiscent of a sunset due to wildfire smoke. I witnessed airglow and several meteors, one with a fiery tail that left me breathless. It felt serene to gaze up at the stars above and the flickering lights from human activity below.

Looking down on the world makes me realize how small and insignificant humanity’s problems have become in comparison. Even I find myself sucked into the affairs of society and caught up in degenerate matters from time to time; I’m still human. Why should we spend so much of our limited attention involving ourselves in things that do not matter in the grand scheme of the universe? After all, I’m only on this planet for several decades at most compared to the celestial bodies that are billions of years old. 

I’m reminded by the infinite amount of stars that there is always something greater than us.  

600 miles
3 hours of sleep
I belong here.

July 5, 2021 Rituals

Fly Catcher 2. July 2021

I awoke at 5:47am to first light on the tallest crags. I tried to close my eyes and sleep for another hour, but I wanted to get to May Lake as earliest as possible to see if the trout were feeding. I also noticed an unnerving amount of flying insects inside and outside of my car; it was time to drive to the trailhead.  

I told myself I was going stay for a maximum of 2 hours and leave by 10:30am so I didn’t have to sit in traffic. I should have known though, as every time I visit here I never want to leave. 

When I first got to the lake, I didn’t notice much fish activity. There was a slight texture on the lake due to a light breeze, which wasn’t a good sign since the flies need calmness if they were to hang around the water. I stood silently and observed but had to dodge the mosquitoes that were swarming my face and avoid the sneaky marmot that almost stole my breakfast out of my backpack. It took intense concentration to train my eye to spot the trout through the reflectivity of the water surface and to patiently pinpoint the moth or dragonfly flying over the water in an erratic motion. 

After 2 hours of mis-shots, it happened. In a split second, I traced a trout adeptly swimming through the water and snatching a moth in mid air a few yards away from me. Yes!! I wanted to scream in excitement as I saw the photo on the back of the camera. I stayed another hour trying to get another shot, but it proved too difficult. I really didn’t want to leave, but it was 11:30am and I had to call it quits; we’ll be back. 

Despite only getting 3 hours of sleep, I somehow made the 5 hour drive back home just thinking about that shot.

500 miles
3 hours of sleep
Tired but happy. 

Fly Catcher. July 2021