A week in Stinson Beach

Yours Truly, Yvonne, Steve, Colin, Mel

Last week I got to spend a week by the ocean. My college friends Steve and Colin with their wives Yvonne and Mel were over from the UK and we rented a house down on Stinson Beach for the week. Stinson Beach is a little beach community on Highway 1 just north of San Francisco. Our house was right on the beach at the end of the sand spit that runs out between the Pacific Ocean and the Bolinas Lagoon – a perfect location for a relaxing week. The weather cooperated too - it can often be foggy on the coast but we had great weather all week.

View of Stinson Beach from the back of the house

While Stinson is just a few short miles as the crow flies from San Francisco – you can see it quite clearly and it lights up the sky at night time – it is a long and winding route to anywhere by road. So we didn’t stray too far from that part of the world. We did the usual things – Bolinas, Muir Woods, Mt Tamalpais, Point Reyes, Tomales Bay, Mill Valley but we didn’t get over to the busier areas of Marin or to San Francisco save for a run to Costco in Novato for supplies.

This is a beautiful part of the world and it is hard to imagine that you are just a stone's throw away from a major city like San Francisco. One of the highlights for me was driving Bolinas Ridge Road - it has to be one of the most stunning pieces of road in California – not to be missed, though I had missed it for 35 years.

View of Stinson Beach and Bolinas from the Bolinas Ridge Road

Steve, Col and I all studied Geology together at University in London (yes I did actually study it once upon a time) and we are all 60 this year. That was the main reason for the get together. And what better place for a group of geologists to meet but on the exact intersection of the San Andreas Fault with the spit of land sticking out into the Bolinas Lagoon. If the earthquake didn't get us the Tsunami surely would have.

Here are all the photos from the trip.

Death Valley - April 2011

In April, Alvaro Rodriguez and I took our Land Cruisers down to Death Valley to explore some of the remoter regions of the park. This was to be the first real long trip with my new ‘old’ Land Cruiser. There were six of us on the trip – John Griffing, Andre Hediger, Catherine Moulton, Alvaro, his wife Monica and myself.

Andre, Alvaro, Monica, Catherine, John

It was an early morning departure from Sacramento up to South Lake Tahoe, over the hill to the East Side of the Sierras, and down Highway 395 (my favorite part of California). Lunch in Bishop at Schat’s Bakery then down to Big Pine where we turned into the hills and the northerly entrance to Death Valley (via Eureka Valley to the Saline Valley).

Near Warm Springs

Our first night stop was at Warm Springs in the Saline Valley. A small oasis in the middle of the valley floor with warm springs (and unfortunately people with a predilection towards parading around the springs without any clothes – these people should be covered up, it’s not a pretty sight).

Saline Valley

We camped nearby the springs in a pretty exposed camp site – at this time of year, it was very pleasant except for the wind but I could only imagine how hot and intolerable it might be further into the summer.

The next day we had a dip in the springs – very nice, just the right temperature, and very clean. Then we were off down the Saline Valley, up Lippincott Pass and down to the Racetrack Playa.  Lippincott was a nice climb out of the valley floor – nothing too challenging. The Racetrack Playa was fascinating – it is a salt flat playa which by itself is amazing, but then there are these rocks on the playa with trails behind them – they are called Sailing Stones. These are quite big rocks and the theory is that they are moved by the wind – quite remarkable. I guess the playa is really slick when it rains so the wind can actually push these large rocks across the floor.

Sailing Stones on Racetrack Playa

Further down the valley we came to Tea Kettle Junction where folks have gone crazy with tea kettles.

Tea Kettle Junction

From Tea Kettle it was over to Ubehebe Crater – another geological wonder in the valley. Ubehebe is the native Indian word for “big basket in the rock” – very descriptive.

Ubehebe Crater

At this point it was time to fuel up so we headed over to Beatty, Nevada. I had stayed in Beatty a few years back and was somewhat familiar with it. It is not the most inviting of towns. As the “Gateway to Death Valley” it has cheap hotels, gas and the basic food items. Alas its only industry – the Barrick Gold Mine – looks like it closed in the late 90’s.

After refueling we set off in search of a camping spot for the night. We had thoughts of finding something near Rhyolite, a ghost town adjacent to Beatty, but there was nothing suitable. We then set of through Titus Canyon thinking there would be a good spot somewhere along the way. Alas this wasn’t the case either, but by then it was getting dark so we were forced to camp alongside the road – a no-no in a National Park but there was not likely to be any other traffic at that time of day. Apart from the wind which was howling while we were cooking dinner it was not a bad spot. Dinner was John’s barbeque ribs that were flown in from Memphis the previous week for our enjoyment.

We made an early start the next day to break our “illegal” camp and get on the road. We followed along down Titus Canyon to the remnants of the town of Leadfield where we stopped to cook breakfast and enjoy the sights. Traveling through the lower part of the Canyon was just beautiful - it is a spectacular canyon, well worth the trip, either motorized or on foot.  I ran all the way through it on the Death Valley Marathon back in 2008.

Titus Canyon

After exiting Titus Canyon, we went through Death Valley proper (very well maintained roads) through Stovepipe Wells and on towards Panamint Springs to the West. Before Panamint Springs we took the cut off towards Emigrant Pass and then on to the town of Ballarat. Ballarat is an interesting place indeed – named after the Australian gold mining town of the same name, it is almost a ghost town, but still has a few living residents - strange living residents. The Manson Family hung out nearby in the 60’s, a scene from Easy Rider (where Peter Fonda threw his watch away at the start of his motorcycle trip) was shot here, and we bought drinks from the store (that’s all they sell) while we tried not to get too familiar with any of the locals.

From Ballarat, we took the road up to South Park Canyon. This was the more challenging bit of trail. Rover Death Hill (as in Land Rover Death) and Chicken Corner (where one shouldn’t be afraid of cutting it close to the edge – “the edge is your friend” as Alvaro says). On our return I heard that the BLM closed this road shortly after our visit. Apparently more than one person has come to grief on Chicken Rock and they figured it just wasn't worth risking others getting into trouble.

We had a look around the Brigg's Cabins. A couple of relatively primitive cabins up South Park Canyon that are equipped with most things you will need. Available free of charge on a first come first served basis, these were a wonderful discovery. They are maintained by a local group and the BLM allow them to be used provided everyone has access. You just hoist the US flag to show you are in occupancy and then leave everything clean and replace what you use. I would like to come back and stay here a day or two.


We pushed on higher up to an area called Middle Park where we camped close to a jaw-dropping view of the valleys below. A fairly high camp ground with a nip in the air the next morning.

Onwards the next day, we went back down Pleasant Valley Canyon to Ballarat. There were some interesting mining relics down the valley.  It is lots of fun to explore these old sites.

On towards Panamint Springs to gas up (thirsty vehicles these Land Cruisers) and then off in search of a camp spot for the last night on the road. We were lucky enough to stumble across a road up Telescope Hill (from where you can see the highest spot, Mt Whitney, and the lowest spot, Badwater in the lower 48). On the way up there were 10 charcoal kilns in almost perfect condition – the Wildrose Charcoal Kilns. The local forests were harvested to provide wood which was converted to charcoal to be used in the smelting operations in the local mines.

Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

That night we camped at Mahogany Flat. At around 8300ft this was our highest camp, almost at snow level. A fine Cottage Pie for dinner from Alvaro – a traditional English recipe with a Venezuelan accent provided by Alvaro.

Sunday was the return home. A long drive up 395, over the Kingsbury Grade into the Tahoe basin and down the hill to Sacramento – total miles this trip 1135. Alas we used 107 gallons of gasoline for a very economical 10.6 mpg. Not quite a Prius, but we did some rough roads and some high speed driving there and back.

Here is a link to my Smugmug photos.

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - April 2011

In April of 2011 I made a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brasil - a business trip to give some software training to one of our customers down there.  Rio is one of the most beautiful cities in the world (IMHO) and I really didn't think twice about going down there, even though training is not something I usually do.

Our clients, Odebrecht, put me up in a nice hotel in Niteroi - just across the bay from Rio. I was initially expecting to work in their office but there were rumors that one of their rigs was in port. When I walked out the back of my hotel I was very surprised to see the rig sitting a few hundred yards offshore. The rig was new, having just been built in Abu Dhabi and it was undergoing final fitting out before going to work offshore Brasil.

The Norbe VI Rig as seen from my Hotel

The Rig at Night - Corcavado in background

I had not visited a rig in years - it has become so difficult these days to get on board a rig without having all the required safety training and certifications - so this was a real treat.   On the first morning I was taken by boat out to the rig and then I was winched up onto the rig in a basket on the end of a crane. The basket device is actually something called a 'Billy Pugh Transfer Net' - named after its inventor.  It's biggest claim to fame outside the oil industry was when it was used to pluck various Apollo astronauts out of the ocean after completing their mission.  It was certainly an interesting and exciting way to go to work, particularly with the view of Sugar Loaf, Corcovado and downtown Rio in the background.

Hoisting aboard the Rig

The actual work was fine though it morphed from a training session to a software redesign session. I came back with a long list of things that they needed adding or changing.  More work for us which is a good thing I suppose.

The Norbe VI

After my stint on the rig, I did get to check out a few tourist type things.  I was staying in Niteroi.  Niteroi is just across the bay from Rio and it is linked to Rio by ferries and by a bridge. It is not as affluent as Rio and it is the more industrial port area. Nevertheless it is a nice area, with great views across the bay towards big city.

Street scene in Niteroi

On one of my morning runs (actually my only morning run), I stumbled across this wonderful building - more like a space ship than a building. It was designed by Oscar Niemeyer and houses a contemporary art museum. By all accounts the building is much more impressive than its contents.

Contemporary Art Museum - Niteroi

Niemeyer's Contemporary Art Museum

Something I wanted to do while I was here was visit one of the favelas in Rio so I signed up for a tour on the Saturday afternoon.  Just wandering around the favela as a tourist is not quite what you want to do as a tourist - it might not be too safe to say the least.

It was an interesting look at a different side of life in Rio. I was worried about it being a little too voyeuristic but these tours are becoming fairly common now and they are promoted as being run by Favela residents and allegedly they do give some money back to the community. Whether that is true or not I don't know.

The Rocinha Favelea

I was picked up in front of the Copacabana Palace Hotel (one of the best hotels in Rio and a striking contrast to where we were actually going) and whisked off up the hill to Rocinha where the housing changes from super expensive to extremely poor in the matter of a few meters.

Typical multi level construction

According to the guides, the slum areas are governed by a mafia-like organization of drug dealers and crooks and even the police don't venture inside. They said that these mafia types at least organized things in the community and got a few things done, while the local government did precious little for the residents. The houses are a chaotic jumble climbing up the hillsides. Hardly anyone has a proper address as the streets and buildings are somewhat free-form, electricity is just stolen by tapping into the power lines, and when you need a new house or a room, you just build it on top of an existing one (4 or 5 levels high sometimes).

If you need electricity, just take it!

That being said there were parts of the Favela that were quite attractive - very colorful, some quite modern, and some with great views of Rio and the Ocean.  Obviously some money is being put into their development.

A more colorful and modern section

Everyone was quite friendly and I didn't sense any hostility or lack of safety.  As can be seen by the photo to follow with a bunch of kids and families.

Yours Truly and some kids in Rocinha

On the following day, Sunday, I did the more standard tourist things - the downtown area, Corcovado, Sugar Loaf, Copacabana, etc. It was a nice day out with lots of wonderful sights. I took lots of pictures. Then on my return to the hotel prior to going out to the airport, I was taking a taxi and I realized that I needed some more money to pay for the ride. I asked the driver to stop at an ATM, and then foolishly got out of the taxi, leaving my day pack in the cab. When I completed my transaction and turned around from the ATM, the taxi had disappeared along with my pack. I guess he figured that whatever was in the backpack it was more valuable than his $20 fare. He was right - 2 cameras, an iPhone, lots of miscellaneous bits and pieces. I am up to over $2,000 on the insurance claim.

That made for a sour end to the trip and a lack of photos of from that day. I can't believe I was so stupid as to do that, usually I am very careful, but I had been getting along fine with the taxi driver and I trusted him. Oh well - there's a lesson learned there. And it could have been a lot worse - I did not lose my passport or my credit cards so I was still able to fly home.