Category Archives: North America

Yosemite National Park — Day 3

Posted on by
Reply

Tuesday (July 25) was another early morning. We left our campsite about 0720 and drove up to Glacier Point, which took almost an hour and a half. Near the top, we stopped at a viewpoint not far from the Point. Despite being hazy out, the view was spectacular. This was a great shot of the hike that Eric, Greg and Heath did yesterday – Vernal Falls is the lower waterfall, Nevada Falls was the higher one, and Half-Dome was on top. 

After a quick photo, we piled in the car and drove the final short stretch of road to the peak. The Glacier Point parking lot led to a paved, gently sloping trail. This photo was taken near the beginning of the trail, looking east, and was the same set of waterfalls/Half-Dome as pictured above.

Continue reading →

Yosemite National Park – Day 1

Posted on by
Reply

We left San Diego on Saturday, July 22 and made the 7.5 hour drive northeast to an AirBnB in Raymond, CA. We met up with our friends, Greg and Heath, there.

On Sunday, we were up at dawn and out the door by 0700. We skipped breakfast, deciding to eat in the park. It took about an hour to get from the AirBnB to the south entrance (on route 41) of Yosemite National Park. We had to waiting in line a little over a half hour, and we were inside the park by 0830. 

Our first stop was Mariposa Grove, where there was a cluster of redwood trees (AKA Sequoia trees). The parking lot for Mariposa Grove was just beyond the park entrance. From the parking lot, a shuttle bus took visitors up to the hiking trails around the redwood trees. The trail we chose had a noticeable incline, but the trail was graded well, so it wasn’t particularly steep.

Continue reading →

Keith’s Thoughts on Baja/Réflexions de Keith sur Baja

Posted on by
Reply

Overall, I like Baja California, Mexico It has it’s good parts and it’s bad parts. It has beautiful scenery (mostly rock formations… most plants we found were cactus or dead). 

Isla Coronados, August 4, 2022

Dans l’ensemble, j’ai aimé Baja California. Mexico a des bons cotés et des moins bons cotés. Il y a de très beaux paysages (plutôt des formations rocheuses…. La plupart des plantes qu’on a trouvé étaient des cactus ou étaient mortes). 

San Francisquito, August 26, 2022

As for civilization, La Paz is nice with good food and a beautiful malecon. Loreto is a good town, not too big and too small. Bahia  de Los Angeles is super small, but it is a good town nonetheless. But my favorite town is Santa Rosalia. It has good food, especially pastries, and is cute and small.  

Santa Rosalia’s waterfront on south end of town, October 10, 2022
Continue reading →

The Last Leg Home — Our 8-Month Baja Adventure is Officially Over

Posted on by
Reply

(*Sorry for the delay in posting. Life got busy once we got back to San Diego)

On Sunday, March 5, we awoke at 0300 to do the last minute things to get Kosmos ready to go to sea. We untied at 0400. It was about 60-nautical miles from Marina Coral to the mouth of the San Diego Bay. Here was the sunrise

The day was mostly overcast and grey. Had we not done the previous difficult passages to Bahia Tortuga and Ensenada, we would have said that the conditions were rough, but compared to those two, sea conditions weren’t all that bad. We were hobby horsing a lot, but the swells weren’t giant nor the intervals rapid enough to make it a miserable ride. We were all functioning normally (for the most part). Here is a “sail” boat passing us… in 5 knots of head winds.

Continue reading →