a wilderness journal

Rocky intertidal habitats can burst with color. In Pacific tidepools, among the most colorful organisms are beautiful sea slugs, or nudibra...

Duxbury Reef is a low-relief intertidal bench at the west end of Bolinas Bay in Marin County in northern California . Tidal seaweeds an...

This month I completed my fourth backpacking trip to the Ventana Wilderness along the Big Sur coast. Actually, my first visit to Ventana s...

Un-opened flower of columbine, Aquilegia formosa . This species was common along the south shore of Caples Lake. In my last post, I wro...

Sierra Nevada wilderness areas in eastern California. Map from www.sierrawild.gov . The Sierras boast a string of wilderness areas fro...

Big Sur is one of my absolute favorite places. I don’t visit frequently enough. Being there rejuvenates my passion for exploration and for...

Sometimes gems lie close to home. I’ve passed through the town of Auburn , California quite a few times, but rarely have ventured off to e...

A beach-stranded ctenophore (perhaps Pleurobrachia ) found near the mouth of Humboldt Bay, CA, 2007. Most people, many biologists inclu...

Oak woodland. It has been perfect spring weather in northern California , concerning only because it is scarcely past mid February and ...

I wrote previously about a fascinating intertidal kelp, the sea palm , found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean . A very close relative of t...

Intertidal and offshore pinnacle at Ten Mile State Marine Reserve, Mendocino County, CA, Jan 2015. Friday was a bright sunny winter da...