al4kosh: Random Thoughts | al4kosh.com | Alan Forkosh

Yosemite — April 2019

Thu, 30 May 2019 20:57:12 -0700

For the past few years, I have been spending a few days in Yosemite Valley during the spring. I think that spring is the ideal time to visit the valley. Crowds are light, and the falls are full with melt from the winter’s snow.

This year, I wanted to add a visit to the Mariposa Grove, the prominent stand of sequoias at the southern entrance to the park. The grove had been closed to visitors for several years while roadways were removed from the grove and trails reimagined to provide a better experience for visitors.

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Paris Notes 2019

Tue, 12 Feb 2019 21:58:14 -0800

I visited Paris in January 2019. Again, I stayed near the Sorbonne and spent 10 days exploring. The weather was notably colder than before with the temperature hovering around freezing. In fact, it snowed for most of one morning.

So, you can find photos of the trip, organized by day and activity here. This page will access all the photos. Photos of snow day are here, while short video clips associated with some of these photos are …

Sequoia -- Late Spring 2018

Mon, 02 Jul 2018 15:24:51 -0700

Hanford and Hazelwood

As in most years, I attend a meeting in Paso Robles, CA on the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. Last year, rather than returning home to Oakland, CA after the meeting, I headed northeast to Yosemite National Park to visit sights in the park that were not open when I visited earlier that year. This year, I decided to aim a little further south and revisit Sequoia National Park to more fully explore a few areas I had rushed by during my visit last fall.

So, after the meeting concluded, I had dinner with some friends and then headed north to King City for the night (lodging prices in Paso Robles were out of this world). Sunday morning, I headed east on California Highway 198 headed for Coalinga and then Hanford, the county seat of Kings County.

As Hanford was the county seat, I thought that the downtown might house some interesting civic and commercial buildings. I was in luck, as you can see by the photos taken around Courthouse Square. Although the actual government functions moved to new buildings on the edge of town in the 1970’s, the 1890’s ere courthouse and jail have been remodeled into shops and offices. In the 1920’s a Veterans Hall and Municipal Auditorium were built on the other side of the square, while a Fox Theater was built on the west side. However, on a sleepy Sunday, the biggest attraction was the Superior Dairy ice cream shop on the east side.

I finished the day and spent the night is Visalia, CA abd the next morning headed into Sequoia National Park. I only took a few pictures that day along the Hazelwood Nature Trail near the Giant Forest Museum, as I think that I felt the effect of the rapid climb of over 6000’ from Visalia to the park.

Pictures related to this page are here. All pictures from the trip are here.

Jul 2, 2018 at 3:24 PM

The Giant Forest

By Tuesday, I apparently had acclimated to the altitude and set out to hike through the Giant Forest from the General Sherman Tree to the Museum. I rode a park bus from the parking lot for the Sherman Tree to a shuttle stop near the tree, avoiding a walk down many stirs (hard on my knees). After visiting the largest currently living tree, I started down the Congress Trail toward the Senate and House groups of trees, paying my respects to The President and Chief Sequoyah along the way. After passing the House and seeing McKinley, I turned down the Alta Trail. Passing Lincoln, I took a short spur to the remains of Washington and then came to the break in forest at the Bedrock Mortors. After traversing the rockier terrain, I entered a mixed forestwhile traversing a slope above Deer Creek. Finally, I hit the junction with the Big Trees trail, and after eating my packed lunch, heade across the Highway to Round Meadow, site of the ranger walk and bear sighting last year. Paying my regards to Ed (by Ned), I passed Clara Barton on my way to the shuttle stop.

I shuttled back to the General Sherman tree for a ranger talk and then returned to Wuksachi for dinner that evening.

Pictures for the day are here

Jul 2, 2018 at 5:14 PM

The Grant Grove

On Wednesday, I left Sequoia and continued north twoard the Grant Grove section of Kings Canyon National Park. Along the way, I stopped at viewpoints to see the Sierra crest over Kings Canyon and Redwood Canyon and areas to the south and west. Arriving in the Grant Grove section, I headed to the trailhead for the Big Stump trail. Last year, this area was closed as it was being used as a base camp for some controlled burns. So, my attempted hike of the Big Stump loop consisted of a rather confused set of unguided walks. This year I was able to hike the complete loop in a manner that make some sense. I was able to view the Resurrection Tree, a Tree whose top had been severed by lightning but had grown a news one. I was also able to circle the meadow that had been the site of a lumbering operation and saw a collection of stumps, newer growth, and a huge shattered log—a demonstration of why cutting Sequoia forests was not a very lucrative pursuit.

I then stopped at Grant Village for lunch and finished the day’s tours with a walk in the the vicinity of the General Grant Tree, the largest tree in this grove. I then drove down out of the Sierra’s to Fresno, returning home the next day.

Pictures for the day are here.

Jul 2, 2018 at 6:17 PM

Yosemite — April 2018

Sun, 20 May 2018 11:22:36 -0700

In late winter, as in the previous 2 years, I began thinking about revisiting Yosemite Valley during the spring. Spring is the ideal time to visit Yosemite Valley; the water is running at its highest and the crowds are still relatively light. Unfortunately, 2018 saw an absolutely dry February, so snow levels were low and prospects for water appeared dim. However, the storms resumed travelling through Northern California in March, bringing estimates of a sub-normal but not absolutely dry year. …

Southern Sierra National Park Trip

Sun, 15 Oct 2017 11:42:21 -0700

My 50th high school reunion was scheduled for September 23 at a country club above the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. I decided that it would be great to return home via the road-accessible areas of the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. I managed to secure reservations at the lodges and cabins in each park . What follows is an account of the five day trip through the area. …

August trip to Shasta-Lassen

Sun, 03 Sep 2017 14:31:24 -0700

Last year, I drove a week-long loop through Northeastern California to Crater Lake and back. However, I felt that I rushed the return. In early August, I decided to visit the area between Mount Shasta and Mount Lassen in a more leisurely manner. Of course, there are photos of the trip.

I started the trip late on Monday morning heading up I-5 about 200 miles to Redding, California. …

Smugmug

Thu, 15 Jun 2017 18:00:01 -0700

Most of my web activity is related to my photo site. The site is actually hosted on Smugmug.com, which provides great flexibility in desgning and displaying one’s photos and videos. I have found it to be good value for the money. If you’d like to try it out, please use the referral link at the bottom of all my blog web pages. If you decide to subscribe, you will get a substantial discount (and I will get an equivalent rebate) for your 1st year’s subscription.

Late Spring Yosemite Trip

Fri, 09 Jun 2017 15:33:31 -0700

I usually attend an event in Paso Robles during Memorial Day weekend. This year, rather than returning immediately to the Bay Area, I decided to spend the next week exploring some easily accessible areas of Yosemite National Park that I still had not seen. I spent two nights at Wawona in the southwestern area of the park a spent a day heading up to Glacier Point. I then crossed the park to a base closer to the Hetch Hetchy area which I then explored. …

Cocoaconf Yosemite

Fri, 29 Jul 2016 17:35:21 -0700

In March 2016, i attended CocoaConf Yosemite, a unique event in the conference world. While aimed primarily at Mac developers the seesions involved no analysis of code or technical breakthroughs. Instead the presenters spoke of issues related to the development life—being inspired, overcomiong burnout, appreciating the world, and living more harmoniously.

The conference was held at the Yosemite (Valley) Lodge, with Yosemite Falls in constant view (even from the converence room skylight) and only a short walk away. …

Notes on my London Trip

Sat, 08 Feb 2014 13:48:14 -0800

Lord of the Tower

I have returned from a trip to London that started in late January. Unlike the weather we have been experiencing in Northern California, it was quite soggy there. Although London only had light rain during the trip, flooding in other parts of England, expecially the southwest, dominated the news.

Using Bloombury as a base, I also travelled up to Bletchley Park and also to the Olympic site and Greenwich. …

Photo Site Update

Sat, 03 Aug 2013 11:12:46 -0700

Like other providers of sites for displaying photos, Smugmug updated its service last week. The service provided more flexibility in organizing and displaying a subsciber's photos. Although their are still some rough edges and bugs in the setup, I have chosen to reorganize my site using one of the new layouts. Over the next few weeks, I will probably be making some changes in the way individual pages are displayed, but the basic organization should remain the same.

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Paris Notes-- January 2013

Tue, 15 Jan 2013 05:44:54 -0800

I'm staying in Paris for about a week and have been posting photos and sending a notification with some observations to friends and family on a daily basis. Linked below are the notes. You can access the complete collection of photos here. The collection of galleries for the trip is here.

Google Maps for the iPhone

Thu, 13 Dec 2012 15:07:59 -0800

(See updates at the bottom)

Original text (December 2012)

Google Maps for the iPhone was made available on the App Store last night. I donwloaded and have reading commentary and playing with it since then. This blog post will be updated as I discover new things.

• Reviews and Commentary:

David Pogue (New York Times)

Dan Moran (MacWorld)

Jacqui Cheng (Ars Technica)

Andy Ihnatko (Chicago Sun-Times)

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Concerning Mac Malware

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:47:35 -0700

Discussion on websites and email lists have prompted me to write up some of my thoughts on the recent outbreak of Mac malware.

1) Most viruses these days attack systems that, for various reasons, haven't caught up on security patches. For example, in the last week, there was a discussion about a trojan horse on the Mac that was transmitted through the opening of Word documents by a vulnerable version of Word. …

Welcome to my blog

Sun, 22 Apr 2012 17:29:23 -0700

A bit late to the party, I've decided to start a blog. I plan this to be respoitory for occaisional thoughts and ramblings on items that strike my fancy. I don't plan to post on any regular schedule. but will post when I have something to say. As sort of preview, you might be interested in looking at a posting concerning community bike systems that John Allen was kind enough to post on his site a few months ago.