Mountains of Southern California

There are 4 main mountain ranges in Southern California: The San Gabriel, San Bernardino, San Jacinto and Santa Ana ranges. While I'm not an expert on them, I do spend some time studying them. Here is my personal way of sorting them in my brain.

• San Gabriel - The main ones (to me at least). These are closest to LA, and the most visible from where I live. Mount Baldy is here, and I've been up in these mountains a lot.
• San Bernardino - The "Big Bear" mountains. It takes a while to get TO these mountains, and then it takes almost as long to get INTO them. Lake Arrowhead and Big Bear are in this range. Also SoCal's tallest peak is in this one. Only visible in the winter from certain vantage points.
• Interesting note: In the narrow flat ground between the above and below mountain ranges is where the scene from Peewee's Big Adventure with the big dinosaurs was shot.
• San Jacinto - These shoot straight up from the ground to form the western border of Palm Springs. They are stunning to behold because of the flat ground they arise from starkly. Not visible from Orange County.
• Santa Ana - These are half the height of the other 3 ranges (peak is around 5,000 feet), but they are the closest, and the only range in Orange County. They are greener and look like they're out of a western film. To me they seem very unexplored, which is very good. The Santa Ana mountains are mysterious, and they've been growing on me.

As I mentioned in the first post of this blog, I enjoy taking the long way home from work. Well, I found a longer long way, and it takes me right to the edge of the Santa Ana mountains. So go ahead, take a guess....yes that's right, I had to explore them.

This picture was from another detour on the way home from work. It's off Santiago Canyon Road, and it is all the things I wish Orange County still looked like.

The Enchanted Forest

I met Kyle in Orange County. We got along well. He played bass on one of my recordings. But then Kyle had to move.

He was moving back up to the Central Coast of California, where he was from. This is 4 hours (or 250 miles) north of Orange County. He had no car, and therefore no way to get back. So I offered to drive him, knowing that I would also reap the benefit of exploring more of the Golden State that I have not seen.

The drive was beautiful, and inspired the name of the song that Kyle and I did together: "Ocean, Left." Once we moved his stuff out of my car, we began exploring. Unlike Orange County, San Luis Obispo has open space everywhere. And being that it was February, everything was green. Driving through the quiet hills and seeing green everywhere was absolutely refreshing for me. It felt like back home in Pennsylvania.

One of our adventures was a walk in the "enchanted forest" right on the edge of a cliff in San Simeon (in view of Hearst Castle). We climbed the huge trees, and when I looked down at Kyle, I saw this spider web. So here is my view from the branch of a tree.

Away

I'm interested in the night

unlit, narrow old roads

and moonlit hills.

I want for rust, history, memory

the winter

the fall

and things away from here.

Much to explore and little already found.

Things away from here.

Memories Founded on History

Taken with a Canon Pellix on Kodak 35mm film.

This is a magical spot. Kind of like today was.

As I mentioned in the previous post, my cousin was in town. I get to see him once every two years or so, and it's been this way as long as I can remember. He lived in Georgia, I lived in Pennsylvania. Now I live in California and he lives in Alabama.

But last night he slept at my house. Today I got the chance to show him some of my favorite spots in Southern California. This was a no-brainer.

I have been obsessed with the mountains since I moved to California. When I moved, I arrived on May 31st, and I had no idea that 10,000 foot mountains were in the area for a few weeks. The very first time I saw those mountains (the first day there were clear skies) I was filled with an unstoppable desire: drive to those mountains.

So I drove in who-knows-what direction, as long as my car was pointed at the looming monstrosity on the horizon. Eventually I ended up on "Mountain Road" which I thought was a good indicator that I'd end up somewhere in the right area.

Well, that one incredible night when I first discovered the beauty and awe of such creation has inspired a continued interest. One of my first adventures after obtaining a 35mm SLR camera was driving up to the mountains.

One way or another, I discovered this beautiful wooded area just off the road to the peak. Where all the surrounding mountains and terrain are gray, rocky, and filled with only brush, this area is green, lush, and full of trees. This is like an oasis in the harsh desert mountain environment.

Today, Joe and I came down here and lingered for a while. The natural spring water tasted delicious, and felt refreshing to dip the feet into. Our entire mountain experience today was quite perfect and magical, and everything worked like it was supposed to. We drove for hours in the San Gabriel mountain range, and were in awe the entire time.

More pictures from this spot forthcoming, once I can get the black & white film developed. ;)

More from the North Beach photo walk

As promised, another picture from the cold walk north in Chicago. This one shows the iciness (and danger!) of the pier. I walked on this to get these pictures! What sacrifices I make for the sake of art. ;)

See the previous post for the background story on this. Sorry about the briefness of the post, my cousin from the other side of the country is staying at my house in California so this got pushed to the back burner! Forgive me!

Chicago Winter

I knew that the spring semester of 2007 would be my last at Moody Bible Institute. I had a realization near the end of the previous semester that I needed to change the course of my life. So I allowed one more semester to give myself a buffer of time to figure out what that meant.

Knowing this full well, I wanted to make the most of my (tentative) last 5 months in Chicago. I decided to take a walk every day, and that I would also take my new camera with me. But it was winter in Chicago.

In January, two weeks into the semester, I set out on one of these daily walks. I knew of a spot a bit north of the school where I could always escape to. It was a beach on Lake Michigan with a pier that went far out into the water enough that the noise of the city was barely audible over the gentle waves. This was my favorite place in the city, and more than one girl accompanied me on various walks there.

But the weather was against me. It could not have been over 20 degrees Fahrenheit, and it was your typical windy day in Chicago, leaving your wind chill probably somewhere around 10 or below. I got a little past halfway and stopped to consider my future for a moment. I was COLD. I was about to turn around, but the inner artist/rebel won the battle, and I continued walking. From that moment forward, most of the pics I snapped were above average; and it only got colder once I got to the lake. Now there were no buildings blocking the wind for me.

I pulled my jacket tight and kept going. I walked out onto the pier, and after 30 or so feet, it became a solid sheet of ice (from the waves that occasionally crashed over the concrete pier and on top). I have pics of this that I will almost definitely post at a later date...maybe even tomorrow.

But another perk of my favorite spot in Chicago was this view. On a day this cold, it was extraordinarily clear, and the short winter day was already waning and the sky had this lovely pinkish hue that you see. This is a panoramic of 3 photos stitched together to give you a sense of the huge, wide skyline of The Windy City.

Let's try that again...

Sorry guys, had to take the post down. My artistic mind doesn't really think about trademarks and legal issues.

I'll try to have another post up this morning, and if not this morning then it'll be this evening.

Smokey at Sunrise

From my journal of the Moody Symphonic Band Spring tour 2007:

3-19-07

Bainbrook, GA

I'm sitting in a huge lodge. Pictures tell the story.

We had trouble on the road today. It ended up in a lot of killing time, and a big hurry to set up for the concert. The room sounded fantastic (it was small!). We watched Casino Royale tonight. A bunch of fun.

Brief because it was late and because of the events of the night prior to journaling.

What this picture alone does not tell about the story was this: After the concert that night, we went to stay in our host homes (as per usual for the tour). However, on this night, all of the guys in the band were staying in the same place: an enormous hunting lodge situated on a lake in the woods of Georgia. Hardwood everywhere. Hunting trophies covering the walls and used as furniture. An outdoor deck and fireplace with fishing poles leaned up against the railing.

Need I say it was a fun night?

I planned to wake up early the next morning to take pictures of the lake at sunrise. I took a bunch, but this is the obvious winner. This is our bus driver for the entire tour, Smokey. How appropriate that the morning fog has a smoke-like appearance in this silhouette.

The Maiden Voyage

The first post on this blog! Hopefully the first of many. Hope you all enjoy this image and the accompanying story.

(Editorial: this blog will definitely keep my mind occupied; it took me like 20 minutes to decide which photo to do first!)

In December, I took a new job in Newport Beach. For those unfamiliar with the geography of Orange County, the drive from La Habra to Newport Beach should be a 25-mile, 35-minute drive due South using the series of freeways that lead directly to my new workplace. But alas, rush hour traffic in Orange County is nothing to sneeze at; any and all plans are at the mercy of the millions of workers (with about one car per person) trying to find their way home from their jobs.

So, still being a relatively new resident to the area (3 years now), I take pride in exploring and finding new roads.

The freeway route The scenic route

Sure, it still takes over an hour to get home but...it's worth it. For me, to drive 45 mph with my windows down, driving through hills during the golden hour and reaching the occasional vista is completely worth it, compared to sitting in traffic on a freeway with 100,000 other cars.

There's one section that is always my favorite...downhill & residential on my right, steep uphill & open space on my left. I spotted a tiny little dirt path cutting through the cacti up the hill, and I always thought: "one of these days, when daylight is longer, I'll walk up there and take some pictures."

Enter March 29th, 2010. Something was seriously wrong with my brakes. Every time I stepped on the pedal, a stress-inducing grinding that I could feel in the seat was heard. I got to this very area, and knew I had to pull over and let the brakes/damaged rotors cool down. So I parked the car on one of the streets to the right, and began walking.

After the uphill walk that wound through hundreds of cacti, I reached the top and the view was incredible - I could see snowy mountains, the ocean, and desert hills/mountains depending on which direction I looked.

I'm truly in the Wild West.

So this picture fulfills my inner need for strong leading lines winding through brush and/or natural terrain. When I get a picture like this, I feel complete.

So to end, I feel this bible verse (as suggested by my sister Kaylee) is an appropriate caption for this scene.

‎"...But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:14