Henry Cowell State Park with Eric, Felton, CA (Santa Cruz Mountains), July 3, 2022

As noted on the prior post, my Santa Fe Striders friend Eric came to visit from New Mexico.  After trail running hiking, and wildlife spotting in Berkeley and Marin, we did more trail running in Santa Cruz and played at Henry Cowell State Park in Felton.  HCSP is known for redwood trees, which were on Eric's must-see list.  However, I have prior posts on this blog focusing on the redwoods.  For fun here are some cell phone pictures (not as high quality as my DSLR) of the little old time train station in the park, and pictures from along the San Lorenzo River trail.

Perhaps most fun of all is this short video clip (again just from my phone) that I call "Nesferatu of the Redwoods."  The lighting was just right for a spooky forest film!

(Nesferatu is a 1922 German Expressionist vampyre film: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMl6hUZHBqY) 

Elephant Seal Lookout with Eric, Point Reyes National Seashore, July 2, 2022

 My Santa Fe Striders friend Eric came to visit from New Mexico.  I curated trail runs and hikes for us in Tilden East Bay Regional Park (in Berkeley), Sibley EBRP (a volcano above Oakland), China Camp State Park (San Rafael), Santa Cruz, and Felton.  In between Eric wanted to see elephant seals and tule elk in Point Reyes.  I was not thrilled with this idea, because Point Reyes is freezing cold and foggy in the summertime.  Wanting to be a good host, however, I acquiesced. The consequence of the fog was some very pleasing photography results!  The palette there was very muted and the textures were so soft. I also took out my 250mm lens for the first time in years, which lent itself well to focusing on abstraction of shapes and forms. 

Images copyrighted by Casondra Sobieralski.  

Use only with permission of the photographer for non-commercial purposes. 

Click any photo to see larger version. 

Started our day in China Camp State Park, where we spent the night. View from my tent at sunrise. (Separate tents for covid safety! Eric, a scientist for the state of New Mexico, had been at a 3-day indoor conference in San Francisco where people eventually needed to eat, and at airports. ) Cell phone snap. 

Then moving up to the DSLR later in the day at Point Reyes...

My favorite of the batch!

 My second favorite of the batch!

Third favorite.

I liked that this rock looks like a giant elephant seal head poking out from the water.

Cataract Falls and Rockspring with Jeanette Mill Valley, CA, June 12, 2022

A misty day on Mount Tamalpais with my friend Jeanette. This sacred mountain was named for a local indigenous goddess.  The shape of the mountain looks like a woman lying on her side.  I used to ride my mountain bike from North Beach in San Francisco to the top of Mount Tam, via fire trails, every week when I was in my 20s and did not have a car.  And now I hike there.  So I know the trails inside and out. It is a very magical place!