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Thread: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monterey

  1. #21
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    There are exactly zero old growth redwoods left anywhere around SF Bay, including Muir Woods. There are a lot of pretty ones, but they're all second growth after total logging. You either have to go way north, or somewhat south on 1 to Big Basin etc near Santa Cruz. Some of the beaches do have massive gray waveworn redwood logs that are highly photogenic. If you look carefully, a number of beaches contain small pebbles of jade.

  2. #22

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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    There are exactly zero old growth redwoods left anywhere around SF Bay, including Muir Woods. There are a lot of pretty ones, but they're all second growth after total logging. You either have to go way north, or somewhat south on 1 to Big Basin etc near Santa Cruz. Some of the beaches do have massive gray waveworn redwood logs that are highly photogenic. If you look carefully, a number of beaches contain small pebbles of jade.
    Drew, since the OP mentioned he was including Santa Cruz in his itinerary, I mentioned the Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park which is a bit north of Santa Cruz, and not far off-route traveling down the PCH from SF to Monterey. The park makes a point that it has groves of both old-growth and second-growth redwoods, including an old-growth tract originally purchased by J.W. Welch in 1867 which is now part of the park. (My earlier post said "all" old-growth, which is incorrect, I checked the information/map that I saved from my visit.) As a New Jersey-ite, I try not to contradict you real Californians (no sarcasm), but my wife and I found this park worth the visit, even just for the .8-mile flat "Redwood Grove Loop Trail" from the main visitor center. While not "hiking," it is quite an introduction to redwoods for a new-comer, and one should be able to easily set up a tripod and 4x5 along the trail.

  3. #23
    William Whitaker's Avatar
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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    Without a doubt, the Legion of Honor and the Palace of Fine Arts. Each is an architectural field day.

  4. #24
    Angus Parker angusparker's Avatar
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    LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monterey

    Quote Originally Posted by Drew Wiley View Post
    Er... Twin Peaks? A serial killer from there was taken alive from my own front lawn after a 2 hr standoff with an FBI SWAT team. He killed at an entire family for their SUV atop Twin Peaks, then was spotted two weeks later at a gas station on this side of the Bay, starting a high speed chase that happened to turn onto my street. Police chase cars boxed him in, so he tried driving around them across my lawn. Egad. And it's not the first such incident at Twin Peaks by any means.
    Most days it’s tourists in buses or rental cars. But in the US it is also true that visiting Naval bases, schools, office holiday parties, and the like may also have life altering impacts.

  5. #25

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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    Thank you all for your suggestions and recommendations! I need take notes and study them.

  6. #26
    http://www.spiritsofsilver.com tgtaylor's Avatar
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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    If you find yourself northbound into SF at the golden gate toll box and haven't made the arrangements set out above, don't drive through. Simply pull up on the far right and go upstairs (that's the office) and pay your toll. It happened to me one night years ago when the toll was 2 or $3 and when I pulled my wallet out I to discover that I didn't have any cash. I went upstairs and wrote a check payable to "The Golden Gate Bridge" for the toll.

    Thomas

  7. #27

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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    I just heard of a rock slide on HWY 1 in Big Sur. If you're headed in the direction (S of Carmel) check for any road closures before launching.
    "I would feel more optimistic about a bright future for man if he spent less time proving that he can outwit Nature and more time tasting her sweetness and respecting her seniority"---EB White

  8. #28
    Drew Wiley
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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    Yes, and it was a fairly serious slide near Big Sur; and if you're trapped south of a slide along Hwy 1 way down there, it can be impossible to get back north without a very long detour. Narrow roads back into the hills above Santa Cruz etc are particularly prone to very wet storms and slide closures. Ironically, the multiple slides and washed out bridges a few years ago around Hwy 1 just north of SF, around Stinson Beach and Pt Reyes, got a lot of engineering attention and have been completely redone to be significantly more resistant to other such events in the future, so present little worry now. But trees can collapse over roads, and a massive falling cypress missed crushing a friend of mine driving down a street in Berkeley just a couple week ago, and missed his car by mere inches. But rain can be a lot of fun under massive redwood and fir canopies. They're often like big umbrellas, with the ground completely dry near the trunks. One of the most accessible but lightly visited redwood preserves in Marin in Roy's Redwoods, which has a lovely meadow and some of the very biggest second-growth redwoods around, plus some reminders of old-growth - massive stumps that has re-sprouted on their perimeters.

  9. #29

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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    This is interesting! My wife asked me yesterday if we need pay toll when we drive across Golden Gate Bridge, I told her “NO”. Apparently I was wrong.

    Quote Originally Posted by tgtaylor View Post
    If you find yourself northbound into SF at the golden gate toll box and haven't made the arrangements set out above, don't drive through. Simply pull up on the far right and go upstairs (that's the office) and pay your toll. It happened to me one night years ago when the toll was 2 or $3 and when I pulled my wallet out I to discover that I didn't have any cash. I went upstairs and wrote a check payable to "The Golden Gate Bridge" for the toll.

    Thomas

  10. #30

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    Re: LF photogenic sites in San Francisco, Napa Valley, Muir Woods, Santa Cruz, Monter

    Thanks for heads up!

    Quote Originally Posted by John Kasaian View Post
    I just heard of a rock slide on HWY 1 in Big Sur. If you're headed in the direction (S of Carmel) check for any road closures before launching.

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