Tag: Natural Environment
-
The Dipsea Trail
The view from the Dipsea trail down to the ocean 
Allegra keeping up a good pace 
The trees aglow in the sunlight 
New shoes! 
Fetching colour schemes 
… and alas another farewell to Abe! -
Russian River
Fields of gold Americans take their weekends very seriously – far more so than us lazy Europeans, who have lengthy holidays allotted to us. One of the local get-aways is to Russian River, an hour or two north of the Bay and nestled in some of the finest hills (and vineyards) in the country. Lauryn and I opted, for our first weekend away, to find a guest house in the charming town of Guerneville. A town that later revealed itself as the destination for outdoorsy gay community of San Francisco; the Rainbow Cattle Company bar name should have given it away! (www.queersteer.com)
Still, a nice weekend away from the city, spent hiking, drinking and eating good food. I shall no doubt be back.
View across the hills to the Korbel wine plantations (ironically, the codename for my final project at Dell – you can’t escape!) 
Said hills. Very purdy. 
Depth of field … I am not finding myself playing with my SLR as much these days … but it is fun when I do. 
Signs of Fall 
The sun, cascading through the trees 
Dawn. Ish. -
Palm Springs
It was easy to imagine the Three Amigos strolling through town (and into Starbucks – it was bloody hot!) Palm Springs, located just over one hundred miles from LA, is a traditional playground for the stars of Hollywood. Offering seclusion and a balmy winter climate, it became fashionable after the war, and the well-healed commissions allowed architectural modernists to flourish in the desert.
I was invited by a set of old Glasgow University friends, one of which was getting married at the impossibly cool Parker. Combined with the July 4th weekend, it made for a great get-away for a few days, and a chance to catch up with some of my old mates; plus of course setting up some sofas in LA to crash on when I make the trip down.
I have never been anywhere quite like it. As if air-lifted from space, lush vegetation, palm trees and swimming pools are set against a backdrop of a brutal, arid landscape. The place is entirely unnatural, and feels very much like being on a film set – I found myself tapping rocks and walls to see if they were fibreglass. I felt a touch guilty, thinking of the madness of spraying water mist into the pedestrian areas, the unimaginable volume of water needed to maintain perfect green golf courses, and the energy requirements to keep everyone happily air-conditioned. It was the polar opposite of attitudes in San Francisco (at least on the surface), but accompany the sun setting against the mountains with margaritas sipped by the pool and I can begin to understand the charm.
A 26ft high Marilyn Monroe graces main street, naturally. 
Heading up on the gondola (a rotating gondola no less) was a refreshing break from the heat in the valley. Strangely, the trees in the glades up in the cool air secrete an oil that smells much like vanilla. Time for ice cream! 
Joel surveys the scene 
Bouquet 
The trees up there were twisted – literally. Like rope, they had a helical structure I had never seen before. Very interesting, I thought. 
Cressida cools down. 
And this is the result of said heat and sun … but Cressida persevered through, editing the wedding movie. 
The wedding itself was at the impossibly stylish Parker. 
An impossibly stylish hotel, filled with impossibly stylish people. 
Steven and James hit the aisle … congratulations, chaps! 
Job done. Time for drinks! 
Unreal scenes at every turn. 
Mountainous desert at the end of every street. 
The sun sets on a fun long weekend. 
Sunset Strip -
Tahoe Summer
I had a last-minute invite from Maartin & Marieke to join them with their brother Kees in a cabin up in the woods. Just the job to escape the city. A great day of hiking, more than a few beers and hilarious laughter, and the next day a solo ride into the wilderness, somewhere in the hills behind Abe’s family home.
Flotsam & Jetsam 
A walk in the woods 
The Nederlanders 
Up in them thar hills -
Santa Cruise
Endless singletrack in California I had the pleasure of Sam swinging by for a week of mountain biking and food. Some awesome days in the saddle, hitting up trails in Marin, the Peninsula, and then a fine finale riding out of Santa Cruise, and up to see the Amgen Tour of California cruise by. Good times!
First up, Skeggs Point and Tamarancho in Marin:
[custom_field field=”Video_Sam” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
And onto a fine day near Santa Cruz, where we managed to catch the Amgen Tour of California go by.
[custom_field field=”Santa Cruz Video” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
GPS
[custom_field field=”Skeggs_Sam” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
[custom_field field=”Tamarancho_Sam” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
[custom_field field=”Santa-Cruz_Sam” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
-
Yosemite is Awesome
The only way to sense the scale is to look at the trees on the left, and realise that they are … trees. Language is funny. You spend the year throwing around superlatives, describing new features on Facebook or the texture of your new favourite Burrito, and are then totally disarmed when you go somewhere like Yosemite, and faced with things that really are ‘awesome’ (in the base sense of the word), ‘massive’ (as in, unimaginably heavy’?) and ‘amazing’ (oh come on). Without the ability to describe anything in a meaningful way, all you can gawp and try in vain to compare it to other places that you have been, and mostly failing.
Yosemite is ridiculously, completely unnecessarily gorgeous. Like a set from a Star Trek movie (perhaps one of the pleasure planets where people run around in togas and seduce secondary members of crew into a life of endless procreation), there is forever a CGI waterfall in the background and vistas stretching off into the distance.
Four days of unbroken sun above our heads, snow underfoot, and yet weather warm enough for t-shirts was a perfect backdrop for enjoying a birthday with my family. Great food, wonderful company, and an awesome location; literally.
Entrance to the valley, on some of the finest roads in California (not saying too much, there). 
Mum and Dad enjoy the vista. It's impossible to stop yourself from screeching to a halt in each siding to enjoy the views on offer. 
El Capitan rock – a genius of naming. 
Incredible arcs of rock look like an impressionist; the brain is not capable of dealing with such scale for more than a few minutes. 
A good day to fly overhead 
First major hike of the weekend, up past the snow line. 
The same waterfall features in most of the images. 
Switchbacks – ah for my mountain bike. 
Don't look down! 
Oh look. 
Half dome on the left, and more waterfalls on the right – we hiked up to the first one the next day. 
Attempting to link up with the previous day's hike … we turned back after we decided it was getting a bit hairy … it's hard to appreciate, but there was a substantial cliff to the direct left side of this. 
Instagram delivering the goods again the next day in our hike up to the falls. 
One thing I love about my Mum is that we notice the same things at the same time. 
Back to the house for the most delicious possible artichokes. Mum & Dad drove through the 'Artichoke Capital of the World', and we spent the weekend laughing about it until we actually tasted the things. -
Thanksgiving on Stinson Beach
Given how diligently commercialised the rest of the holidays in America have become, it comes as a pleasant surprise just how innocent and positive Thanksgiving is. Gather with friends and family, eat a little too much, drink until tipsy, and in the case of about thirty other Californians, head to the beach to throw a ball around and enjoy the Autumn sunset.
In that spirit (forgive me if I am getting a little too Californian here), I could not be where I am right now without the love and support of some great family and friends. I am an extremely lucky guy!
Thankyou.
Little Miss Sunshine 
Reminds me of a summer with the Scottish guys in Lacaneux 
Watercolours 
Running home in time for dinner -
First Mountain Bike Ride in San Francisco
Within about 72 hours of landing, I already had my first riding date arranged with Marc Walliser from the office … I have yet to receive my own bike, so he was kind enough to lend me a very nice Rocky Mountain for the task. Awesome!
Ewok Forest 
Nice riding – though lacking the killer technical sections of Taiwan so far! 
Looking happy with myself. [custom_field field=”First_Ride_SF” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
-
Bregenz & Lindau
A lovely little excursion through the roundabout-strewn Switzerland, to Bregenz in Austria, up a cable car, down to Lindau in Germany, and back in time for dinner. Not bad!
Parklife 
Top of the world – Pfänder Mountain 
Contrails 
Views to the Alps 
Autumn light 
The Bodensee was stunning in the stark light 
I imagine the previous transport significance of Lake Konstanz cannot be overstated … 
… hence the ridiculous edifices at each end of the lake -
Final Graveyard Ride
I have had some of the best days of my 20s up in the hills around Taipei – the days spent up there rooted in my memory. That’s why I was so delighted that, after six years of pestering, Ken finally decided to come up to Taipei for a round of mountain biking. Sadly, I managed to miss my alarm call leaving the rest of the guys stranded at Starbucks without us, but Ken and I managed none-the-less to string together a great day of riding and catching up before my departure.
Looking out from Starbucks at the rain 
Making some adjustments to the Heckler brakes 
A new office chair post will probably change the riding dynamic; ie: less chatting! 
Need to do more of this in future. 
The rock drop section is never a cake-walk, but heading into this cameras blazing, knowing it was going to be my last attempt in a long time, combined with fuzzy status of medical insurance, definitely sapped my fluidity. 
The addition of steps on the intermediate section is not my favourite modification to the trail 
'Honestly, this is the way!' I am itching to see what the trails are going to be like in San Francisco, and beyond …
[custom_field field=”Final_Graveyard” this_post=”1″ limit=”0″ between=”, ” /]
