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Thread: California - October 2022

  1. #21

    Join Date
    Dec 2001
    Location
    San Joaquin Valley, California
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    9,599

    Re: California - October 2022

    In October, it'll be warm, but it might be cool, so pack a sweatshirt.
    The fires have opened up some spectacular mountain views long shielded by dense growth.
    Yosemite Valley is usually uncrowded in October, also the tourist "high" season will be over on the coast if Big Sur sounds interesting.
    There is no off-season in Monterey however.
    The wineries will be active of course---the wineries in the Gold Rush country (HWY 49) and the Central Coast are less pretentious (and I think more fun) than Napa.
    Lake Tahoe has a lot of mountain scenery and the casinos should have some cheap rooms to attract off season tourists.
    If you find funky industrial stuff interesting, Mare Island Naval Shipyard in Vallejo is a short jaunt across the bay from San Francisco
    Some of my favorite Autumn photo destinations are the trans-Sierra passes between 49 and 395.
    "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

  2. #22
    jp's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Location
    Maine
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    5,628

    Re: California - October 2022

    I've only been in that area in June. I had a spare day when visiting silicon valley, so I drove down to Monterey and Point Lobos area, then down to the Bixby bridge. If you have more time, I'd definitely recommend the area.
    I drove down the coast and back on 101. 101 was not busy. SF itself was shrouded in fog/rain and not photogenic in comparison.

    Not available in October, but
    https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/8409468...hbIYCR4mklKnws
    "If you are interested in photography, please inquire ahead of time for a private tour of Edward Weston's home and our private photography gallery."

  3. #23
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: California - October 2022

    My dad would take me out of school and drive all though those interesting geological wonders of Ice Age times, and then revisit the NW dam site Govt projects where he worked; and we'd finally end up on the coast at Tillamook where he grew up. The Dry Falls which are relics of vast Lk Missoula floods were frequently on the itinerary.

    Then, just prior to my birth, when he moved to Calif to supervise the Friant-Kern Canal, which was mainly cut through a series of Pleistocene floodplains at the edge of the San Joaquin Valley to avoid the need for pumps, vast megafauna bone heaps were repeatedly encountered, including a lot of mammoths and mastodons. These were due to sudden ice dam failures way upstream in the Sierra river canyons, as the glaciers advanced or retreated during Ice Age fluctuations. When he was in his 80's and 90's it became my turn to drive him around to such places and chat about the geology, scenery, and local history. Learned way more from him than even college geology courses.

  4. #24
    Vaughn's Avatar
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    Jan 2007
    Location
    Humboldt County, CA
    Posts
    9,211

    Re: California - October 2022

    Peaked here in at 86F in my backyard today...down to 83F at 1pm with the breeze arriving from the coast (8.4 miles away as the crow flies, and 80 feet lower in elevation). The house has stayed in the low 70s (clear and 51F last nite), but several days of this and the house won't cool down.

    If that crow flew 20 miles east instead today, it would find itself in 105F temperature surrounded by fire...two fires actually, a total of 42,000 acres, about 80% contained.

    Summer seems to have suddenly started again.
    "Landscapes exist in the material world yet soar in the realms of the spirit..." Tsung Ping, 5th Century China

  5. #25

    Re: California - October 2022

    Thanks to everyone for the input and ideas - much appreciated, and great to read the rich discussion above. Our son has decided to join us for a few days, so am currently in negotiation with him about what we might do.

  6. #26
    Drew Wiley
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    SF Bay area, CA
    Posts
    18,337

    Re: California - October 2022

    Don't get fooled by 101. The traffic can be atrocious if you don't time it right. At night I can make it to my sister's place outside Monterey in an hour and a half. Last time it took four and a half hours due to it being a Saturday with a golf event at Pebble Beach. Formerly small farm towns along the way like Gilroy are now urban sprawl with all the accessory commuter mess. Silicon Valley suburbanization, for all practical purposes, now reaches nearly that far. Often you can't even find a parking spot within Pt Lobos in summer, especially on a weekend, if you don't get in there quite early. Last year there were multiple closures on Hwy 1 south of Carmel due to both repetitive forest fires and massive landslide repairs near Bixby Bridge.

    Hwy 1, branching off at the southern end of SF, is always relatively slow; but at least you can pull over lots of places and enjoy the ocean view if some big motorhome is clogging the route. Hwy 101 and 1 north, across the GG Bridge to Marin county and Pt Reyes, generally a brief drive except commute hours, and as long as you're comfortable with winding narrow roadway along the coast itself. But over this long holiday weekend it's been very slow bumper to bumper the whole way to the beaches due to the record heat. That is starting to improve, and this heat wave is due to end by this weekend. But everything is in the timing. I won't even bother trying to head over there till Friday, maybe even next week, and I've only got the Richmond Bridge to contend with, not the Golden Gate traffic.

    Fog is our friend. I'm finally feeling a bit of cool breeze here again, while inland is still forecast to be exceptionally hot for Sept. But even here it's more than 40 degrees warmer than last week. Fog also lends a lot of magic to photographic opportunities. So it's not only our natural air conditioning, but our natural softbox lighting. That changes during the course of the day, as the sun comes out and then the fog returns later on. The lighting has been absolutely magical over at Pt Reyes all summer until this heat wave prematurely arrived.

  7. #27

    Re: California - October 2022

    A quick update - most of our time was helping my wife's sister move house, and to get her new place straight. We did however get a good deal on a couple of nights at Tenaya Lodge, and had a simply wonderful time in Yosemite. When we were last there about 30 years ago, about 12 inches of snow fell in less than 2 hours, and we saw absolutely nothing, although I did learn how to put snow chains on for the first time! This time, the weather was very kind to us, and we were able to do numerous relatively short walks while wearing shorts and T-shirts most of the time. Goodness - what an extraordinarily beautiful place! I didn't bring a large format camera with me, but here is a quick snapshot by my son of me admiring Cathedral Rocks;



    We are already planning the hikes that we will do on a return visit to Yosemite. Even the drive there, through almond and pistachio orchards, and fields of garlic, was great after being cooped up during lockdown for over two years. Thanks again for all the input - much appreciated!

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