Trabuco Outdoors Blog

Power lines in the desert

Shot at 11:00pm 4/17/11  US 66 near Chambless , CA

Leadville, Colorado

If you enjoy photography and old west history, you'll want to spend some time in Leadville, Colorado. Leadville was a boomtown during the late 19th century with the silver strikes of 1877 and 1878. The glory years ended by the end of the century although the town was occasionally boosted by mining operations of lesser metals including zinc and lead, and Leadville was little more than a hardscrabble town by the second half of the 20th century.

In any case, there is still a goldmine of photographic opportunities in the town. I wandered around town for a couple of hours in 2010 and then again in 2011 and just shot whatever caught my eye.

Blakely Smale Dry Goods Company

Delaware Block

Boarded building

The Tabor Opera House is the most famous building in town. Built by Horace Tabor in 1879, performers included Oscar Wilde, John Philip Sousa and Harry Houdini. Tabor became wealthy not by discovering silver, but by grub staking. David May started the May Company department store in Leadville in the late 1870s. The legendary Unsinkable Molly Brown who survived the sinking of the Titanic was another famous Leadville resident.

This photo is from one of central Colorado's other historic boomtowns: Central City.

Quick trip to San Francisco

My son Scott & I headed up to Carmel and San Francisco during his spring break last week. There are a few of nice photongalleries in Carmel including Photography West and Weston Gallery that sell original prints by the 20th century master photographers, many of whom lived in Carmel during their photographic career including Edward Weston, Brett Weston and Ansel Adams. At about $35,000 for an entry level Adams print, we left without buying anything. We did manage to make a few of our own photos that we would be willing to part with for 1/1000th of the price of an Adams print.

If you drive from LA to SF, I recommend taking a quasi-inland route instead of driving straight up I-5 if you have time. We drove I-5 through the grapevine and then headed west and drove through the Carizzo Plain national monument. Although know for its Spring wildflowers, there were virtually none last week. It's a drive worth taking anyway. We connected with Highway 101 at Paso Robles to Camel, and then headed up the 101 and Hwy 1 north of Santa Cruz.

After spending a night in Carmel, we spent a couple of hours in Point Lobos state park. It's a park that is challenging photographically, so I'll definitely have to return when I have more time. The photo above is from a rural graveyard near the "town" of Pescadero south of Half Moon Bay. Below are a few from San Francisco and the drive back home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mornings at the piers

 

 

 

 

 

 

Revisiting the Santa Rosa Plateau

If you are looking for a good aerobic workout, there are plenty of trails in the Santa Ana Mountains that will accommodate you. With Santiago Peak reaching an elevation of 5,687 feet, the climb will raise the heart rate of the most fit hikers. If you are looking for a leisurely hike, head out to the Santa Rosa Plateau in Riverside County in the hills southwest of Interstate 15 roughly between Lake Elsinore and Temecula. There are several loop hikes ranging from a couple of miles to over 10 miles which have an elevation gain of no more than a few hundred feet.More info is available here.

Just ran out of time, but I'll have more on the SRP shortly.

More from the Ramakrishna Monastery

I posted a few photos of the Ramakrishna Monestary in an earlier post. Here's a few more photos from a couple of subsequent visits.

 

 

 

 

Grand Teton Bison

Once in a blue moon...we get a red moon

Here's a shot of the lunar eclipse from Crystal Cove early yesterday morning. This shot was taken at 6:08am, 36 minutes before sunrise. Normally, taking a photo of the full moon in a single exposure one-half hour before sunrise would be impossible unless you were willing to give up detail in the moon. The difference in brightness between the moon and the landscape is just too great and exceeds the dynamic range of the camera's sensor (the range of light it can capture in one exposure). I was able to get just two shots of the moon before the light from the sunrise overpowered the moon's diminishing moonlight from the full eclipse.

Of course I had to hang around Crystal Cove and get a few shots of the beach and the old cottages before I left.

 

 

 

And one from Laguna Beach on the way back home.

 

6 tips for fall color viewing in the Santa Ana Mountains

1. Late fall is best
Fall colors don't usually appear before November in our canyons.

2. Come during "bad" weather.
After (or during) a rain is the best time. The moisture saturates the leaves and also the color. Trabuco Creek Road is dirt of course, so you will need high clearance vehicle (and possibly 4x4) if it's raining. A sunny day following a storm can also be a great time.

3. Adjust your expectations.
This is not Vermont. On the other hand, if you come in December, it'll probably be 65 degrees outside and not 22 degrees.

4. The canyons are great,but don't forget about the chaparral.
The buckwheat and deerweed turn a golden bronze in the fall. The temperature is far more comfortable than the summer and the bugs and flies are gone. This is a great time to hike the ridgelines.

5. Don't come too late.
A strong Santa Ana wind or early winter storm can vacuum the fall colors from the canyons. The prime season is typically between early-mid November and the end of December.

6. Get out of the car.
Good locations such as Trabuco Creek trail require a short hike (3 mile out & back).

Catalina part 2

Here's a few more photos of Catalina Island and some things that just caught my eye when we were wandering around Avalon.