Sketches seem to be getting a little bit spotty the last couple of months...
Sketching in watercolor at Shoreline Park. Some days the mountains are more attractive to the eye than the sea.
The current entry point to the old Montecito Hot Springs Club.
A bit of an attempt at fantasy from the reality of fog shrouded hills.
Additionally, there were watercolors painted at Forbush Flat on an overnight.
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Patapsco Valley State Park interactive map link I was charged with deciding on a hike that kids could do, except I have no experience in this or in evaluating what a particular kid can do. Plus, I would be without any parental supervision. Alltrails offered up Cascade Falls as a possible suitable suggestion, except that it would be done on the weekend and is a very popular location. I liked a climb on Garrett's Pass and a drop on the Cascade Falls Trail, which is 4 miles and only 300 feet or so from bottom to top. (It goes from ~20m to ~100m.) That's not so much, right? And I even had the means for up to 2 kids to be self sufficient, able to carry water, snacks, camera, and a light sweater on their own. Self sufficiency for the win, right? The hike would be in the Patapsco Valley State Park, like most my hikes would likely be. This park has a mix of free lots and pay lots. The pay lots have different prices for in state or out of state, weekends/holidays or weekdays. T...
Since I last wrote about digital maps, the S1 Mobile app has been shut down and the Forest Service released a new map app that looks pretty good. It might be time for a new post on maps. (Check the "equipment" tag for older editions.) USFS app in offline mode showing a section of the Pacific Crest Trail north of Marble Mountain Wilderness including intersecting roads, streams, and contours. As before, this will focus on legal, free ways to have maps stored on your handheld computer (AKA "phone") so you can have them anywhere and any time. While these are free, it does help insure that independent developers keep going next year if you send some money toward them. My criteria for a map app: Works offline. If you only have a map when online, you don't have a map. It is as simple as that. This is non-negotiable. Maps should include contours. I'm looking to hike with these maps after all. Shows location. User configurable storage opt...
Picture Canyon Natural and Cultural Preserve Click for map. Picture Canyon is a little bit of open space developed jointly by the City of Flagstaff and Arizona State Parks. It boasts cultural artifacts and plenty of birding. The Tom Moody Trail makes a loop through the area to take in some of these. It sits at the edge of a couple bits of industry and my nose can't help but tell me that one of those is sewage treatment. Um, I mean "waste water". That won't dominate the whole area, but it is noticed in the wetter spots. A place to start with some parking. Signs include an area map. Ground zero for the stink up ahead, but certainly not the source. That is throughout the city. Trail heads toward the smell past an "outdoor classroom" that is benches and a semicircle of educational signs, then the loop splits. I head left away from the smell and into the trees, but also away from the cultural artifacts. It's an old road through gentle hil...
Gaviota State Park Gaviota State Park seems to be out to get all its trails back. There was a while when there were about twice as many on the map as on the ground. Exploring one of these reworked trails is most easily done starting at the park entry by Las Cruces. I picked up a couple sisters from by the old adobe stage coach stop and after having a look at that, proceeded to the gated end of the road and the start of the hike. It is a little warm although I can just see the fog hanging above the break in the rocks made by the pass. We start off down the fire road and quickly come to a trail junction. Before, this junction was easily missed and only one trail showed at all. Now it has an information kiosk and trail signs marking the Ortega Trail that follows near the creek and the Yucca Trail that climbs along the ridge. Both easily found and followed. After a brief discussion, we head up the Yucca Trail, the one that was previously invisible. It climbs quickly. Lo...
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