Get off the map and stay off it

Spent 4 days touring round the depths of the National Forests of Klamath, Shasta, Trinity and Lassen, a huge area of mountains and forest taking up most of Northern California. In the process, I have become adept at snaking out awesome spots to overnight at, preferably with a river close by for morning dips. Had some epic drives, which completely blew Sat Nav Lady's mind (or maybe it was the canyons, fog, switchback roads, deep forests). I lost count of the number of legal U-turns she was desperate for me to make to force me back onto main roads. The more she does it the more I relish ignoring her..

In which I visit Endor

Do you ever have those moments when something seems to reach into your brain, grabs a fistful of consciousness then yanks you out of your meatware to really appreciate where you are or what you're doing?

As I'm an old geezer who remembers turbo buttons on computers and the gently glowing 66 that meant you were a player, I get it frequently when holding a modern mobile phone; the sheer computing power stacked into something so small, the array of things it can do. Camera, calculator, diary, video camera, music player, organiser - and it makes calls too. Take yours out now and really think about what it's taken to put all the stuff in the palm of your hand. If you don't find yourself thinking isn't technology amazing, you're not concentrating hard enough.

Rocks with bubbles

Quick post of some shots I took off Salt Point State Park with amazing sandstone bubbled formations A.K.A. 'Tafoni'.

More Tafoni rock pictures

My first sniff of the 'real' Pacific

Technically, scrambling about below the Golden Gate Bridge should count, but somehow the fog and grey-ness that day didn't feel real. As I travelled North from San Francisco, climbing through Mount Tamalpais state park got me some fantastic above the clouds views and then later sheer distance from fog trap of the bay at Point Reyes seashore got me proper Pacific up close.

Like many things I'm finding on this trip, it's the little things that can catch you out when you shift cultures to another country. For example, if you ask for a side order of something in a restaurant in the US, you'll often have it delivered as an appetiser, rather than as, you know something on the side with your main dish (go figure). On the roads, you can turn right at a red light if it's safe and overtake on any side on the freeway. The point I'm making is that some stuff you take for granted or do automatically in one place, can have dire consequences in another.

I love the smell of antique nukes in the morning

First day out of San Francisco and a cold-war relic caught my eye. In the late 50s and early 60s the US built a network of 280 'Nike' Missile sites, dotted around the major strategic bases and population centres (Nike after the greek goddess of victory - the sneaker gods hadn't been invented yet). Whilst initially the missiles in these batteries were conventional high explosive, as the Cold War deepened, they were soon replaced with nuclear warheads...

Made it off The Rock

For much of its history, Alcatraz was actually a military post, one of the first fortified bases on the west coast in fact. Today it's a strange combination of ruined buildings, landscaped gardens, seabird sanctuary and tourist ghetto.

It's true, you can walk around San Francisco

They (no, not 'They', just 'they') say San Francisco is one of the few American cities you can walk around. I put that to the test today on a grand 15 mile navigation encompassing Haight (+ Memphis Minnies to fuel up), the Presidio and Golden Gate bridge. I can exclusively reveal I am knackered and my feet could stop a zombie at 40 paces.

Meet "Cardio Mario"

Meet Cardio Mario. I met him whilst walking down Pacific Avenue, just down from the Presidio. He was out for his evening jog. I was marvelling at the architecture when he stopped and spent 20 minutes sharing with me the goings-on on what transpires was Billionaires Row, the most expensive street in the city.

From Larry Ellisons spat with his neighbours about trees blocking his view, to Sean Penn's alleged prediliction for using champagne bottles to test the theory of gravity from his roof, Mario had it all.

Mario isn't the only slightly strange thing out here. There are flocks of parakeets flying about and a strange species of molochian hobo that seems to be invisible to the rest of the populace. They walk up to trash bins and then enthusiastically mine them for aluminium cans which are then fastidiously crushed on the spot and added to their collections. I may follow one and see if I can find the mother nest.

Updated photos from 'Frisco

A Michael Jackson tribute, fireworks with naff narration, the scent of Mary J...

..it must be July 4th in San Francisco.

14 (mostly) white guys called Foreverland pulling off the best of Michael Jackson. Several thousand people on the grass of Aquatic Park, some smoking meat based items on BBQs, others smoking matter more vegetable in nature, both combined scents permeating the atmosphere. Nicely bombastic fireworks display, but diminished by overly naff intro speech and over-loud backing Americheese music. Still, crowd seemed to enjoy it. Good times.

Pause for thought - lessons learned and tunes rocked

I've made it 'Frisco. Took a few pictures along the way.

A useful time to pause and take stock on the last 2000 miles or so.