May 2026

Near the end of our 2001 hike of the John Muir Trail, Gerald and I had just climbed Mt. Whitney and were coming down the east side very tired and looking for a place to stop. We saw a nice little lake off the side of the trail (Mirror Lake) so we went down and set up camp. A little later we wandered over to the lake outlet and found a sign saying "No Camping". It was late in the day and we guessed that it was unlikely that anyone would see us there, so we stayed. The next morning we finished the hike to Whitney Portal and were picked up by Maureen.

Last week, we spent a few days at the cabin in Big Sur and we went out intending to walk on the headlands at Soberanes Point. We were hoping for the beautiful clear weather of the previous couple of days, but the coast was all in fog. We walked anyway and found it surprisingly beautiful with the surf fading away into mist. We both liked this cypress on the cliffs and I chose to paint it.