Author: melmalinowski

The Portland Hills have stairways cross-connecting some streets, like Berkeley, California and San Francisco. This brick structure houses water valves.

Hillside homes perched high above the Willamette River.

Steel house supports are common on the steep hillside.

A starter castle?

Ample rain yields lush hillside trees, shrubs and flowers.

Iris

A word play on ‘The Portland Zoo’?  Free toilets in the park area near Portland State University. Free public toilets mean cleaner parks, an idea other cities should consider.

Tasty Pacific Northwest water from a classic fountain.

Kind of says it all, right?

A sculpture at Wall of the Heroines at Portland State U.

Forsake all sloth, ye who enter through these portals.

And exercise the mind. Portland State Chess.

Visiting our friends’ ranch south of Salinas, California.

Chimney of lime kiln built in 1893. Small lime kilns were common then.

Buckeye tree  (horse chestnut).

83 miles of hiking, biking and riding trails near the California coast.

Sunny and Ivy are ready for the trail.

Oak forest. Had to duck low under some branches or get knocked off!

Mel and Ivy in the oak forest.

In Northern California, north of San Francisco, and west of the city of Novato in Marin County is an area called ‘West Marin’. It is an area of great natural beauty.

Superlatives are overused these days. Yet the rolling grassy hillsides of West Marin call for them, as they are breathtakingly beautiful in the spring, one of the most evocative vistas I have ever seen in the world.

Rolling green pastureland is punctuated with rocky outcroppings, and groves of trees fill the gullies and some hilltops.

Wildflower grow in abundance in the Spring.

Barinaga Ranch is located in West Marin along Marshal-Petaluma Road.

It was founded by a woman of Basque heritage who wanted to raise sheep and make cheese in the traditional ways.

It comprises 800 acres near Marshall, California and Tomales Bay.

Marcia Barinaga makes it her business to know all her sheep and lambs.

Milking time, ten at a time. Happy sheep make good cheese.

I want to be next to be milked, please.

Sheep are individuals, some bigger, some smaller, with their own personalities and big, dark eyes.

This is Edie, the founding ewe of Barinaga Ranch.

These lambs were born in March 2016, and were weaned recently. Fleece as white as snow?

One of the younger lambs still nursing from mom.

Great Pyrenees dogs watch over the sheep and lambs and protect them from predators.

Bred over many years to guard sheep, they work in teams and are fiercely protective.

Would you want to challenge this big dog? Even mountain lions avoid them.

Notice the two lambs up atop the rock outcropping.

The Barinaga cheeses have won many awards.

Click to learn more about Barinaga Ranch

 

 

Fare thee well, West Marin and Barinaga Ranch…

The hills of Berkeley (near the University of California–Berkeley) are steep and wooded.

The winding streets have rustic paths and stairways connecting them, and you can have a lovely hike up the hill on them. On April 24th, while staying with friends there, I took a walk that I will share here.

Looking out toward San Francisco.

The walk, 1.3 miles. Starting at Keith Avenue, heading up El Mirador Path.

El Mirador Path begins. The paths are varied, some concrete steps, some wooden, some dirt or gravel paths.

Getting more rustic.

After a walk up Cragmont Avenue, past Bret Harte Road, Sterling Path beckons.

 

And soon becomes even more rustic.

Big old trees, lush vegetation.

Houses sometimes form one side of the path.

Keeler Path starts out as a simple dirt track.

Now approaching Remillard Park.

Pinnacle Rock, a popular local rock climbing spot in Remillard Park.

Climbing club member Soo Hom starts up a deceptively difficult route.

Hmm. Not much to hold on to!

This kind of climbing requires a lot of strength, and Soo Hom has it.

Strong, experienced climber.

Next, 11 year old Luke starts up. He’s a natural, and climbs well. By having an upper belay, anyone can try difficult routes without fear of injury if they fall.

Heading down now on Betty Olds Path.

Houses are suspended out on the steep hillside amidst dense growth of trees and shrubs.

Now, down Covert Path. Who makes up these names??

Past a rustic cottage.

Down, down…

Back to the the Marcellini artists studio.

Where ‘Godzilla’ the squirrel tries with exceeding cuteness to get a bite to eat, and succeeds.

Part of Judith White Marcellini’s studio with 3D Cambrian era critters in the making.

End of a lovely sojourn in the hills of Berkeley…

 

E