Campbell Mountain Last Year

Campbell Mountain

This mountain is becoming an old friend, even though I've never walked its slopes. When I have a short time before dark to catch some passing clouds and I need something under the sky to tie the clouds down to earth, Campbell Mountain is there.

Orchards along Highway 180

Vineyards along Highway 180

Highway 49, Oakhurst

There are a lot of baby blue eyes around Oakhurst right now, but this is the one spot I found with owl's clover mixed in. Its' just off Highway 49 on Vista Del Rio between Oakhurst and Awhahnee.

Highway 180 revisited

Near Centreville on Highway 180

More on the San Joaquin River

The river access on the San Joaquin is so close I took this on my lunchbreak..

Undeveloped County Park on Piedra

There is a little known Kings River access point on Piedra Road in an 'Undeveloped County Park'.  Here's a photo from there last night. More on the way..

Vacancy

Here's some mustard and owl's clover from a vacant lot in the Pinedale Palm Bluffs industrial park area.

Telegraph Fire

One of the areas recovering from the Telegraph Fire along Highway 140..

Briceburg Backroad

There's a small BLM visitor center at Briceburg on the Merced River. Below is a launch point for rafts and kayaks. Just past the visitor center Incline Road (that's sometimes closed) runs across the water via a bridge and down the river canyon away from Highway 140.

San Joaquin River Bluffs

This morning on the way to work I visited a vacant lot in the Palm Bluffs area that Gavin found owl's clover in. On the way home I looked for a road that I heard gives public access to the San Joaquin River right behind GB3 and west of Spano Overlook Park. Sure enough there is a dirt road right down to the river. I can't believe after living in Fresno for 36 years, working near the bluffs for 5 and looking for river access many times I missed this spot. You can follow this link to a bird's eye view of the intersection during development of GB3 and just pan to the West to get to the river.

It looks like it would be fairly easy to launch a kayak or canoe in this spot. There were ten other cars at parked there when I visited at 5pm on a weekday so it's certainly not a secret spot. I also saw a bunch of teenagers with army helmets and Jedi robes running around. Not sure what that was about.

Previously I'd arrived at this same spot from a less legal approach across a nearby undeveloped property that has an open gate on the bluffs. That time I talked to a fisherman with all his gear strapped to a moped. The approach on the bluffs is a great spot to photograph datura (Jemson weed) late in the Summer. Monday night I returned empty handed for the third consecutive time fly-fishing on the lower Kings River so I think I'll be trying out this much closer fishing option a try very soon.

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