You know what’s something I don’t miss about living in Los Angeles? June Gloom. That low deck of gray clouds that tends to hang out all day during May and June in coastal Los Angeles (I’ve even griped about it before).
In the Great Central Valley, they tend to get a different kind of fog in the winter: tule fog. Tule fog is entirely different from that old marine layer in L.A.: you wake up to it in the morning, low on the ground, cutting visibility down to less than a mile. It swirls in the trees an fills the meadows, blocking out the sun and lending a mysterious quality to the whole world.
And it usually burns off within an hour or two, rather than hanging out for weeks like June Gloom. This, I like.
One thing that isn’t enjoyable about tule fog is driving in it, and it’s not uncommon for there to be multi-car pileups along the highways. You can hit a wall of it quite unexpectedly, and all it takes is one person braking too fast, or not braking at all, to start the chain reaction.
But when I woke up early today and saw the fog outside, I grabbed my bike instead, and rode down to one of the local bike trails to take a few pictures. Enjoy.
Along the creekbed.
Riding towards a ghostly tree.
Cruising through the foggy landscape.
Streamside vegetation (including, I think, tules) in the fog.
Another view of the ghostly tree.
Heading towards a bridge.
On the way home: the sun is starting to burn off the fog behind the utility towers, creating an apocalyptic view…
Oh, ghostly trees are my favorite! I love that picture with the solitary tree in the fog, and the last “apocalyptic” one (you can almost see it as a backdrop for “The Walking Dead”)!
BTW, nice copyright thingie there — you are getting professional! 🙂
By: skybluestateofmind on February 8, 2013
at 10:09 am
*laughing* – I thought of “The Walking Dead” too!
By: geekhiker on February 11, 2013
at 9:25 pm
Consider the pictures enjoyed 🙂
By: Bruce H. on February 8, 2013
at 5:04 pm
Glad you enjoyed them!
By: geekhiker on February 11, 2013
at 9:21 pm
Strange. I thought about Sleepy Hollow instead (ghostly tree and fog). And because you mentioned riding. Were you that mysterious headless Horseman? 🙂
By: Godefroy Richard on February 14, 2013
at 3:34 pm
Sadly, no. But if a cyclist had zoomed past me in the fog, I probably would have run like Ichabod Crane!
By: geekhiker on February 14, 2013
at 4:21 pm
I’ve had one too many near-death experiences driving on the 99 through the fog. Still one of my favorite things about winter in the valley, though.
By: Kelly Revenaugh on February 17, 2013
at 3:41 pm
Yeah, 99 or the 5, there’s nothing like driving through pea soup to scare the bejesus out of you, is there?
By: geekhiker on February 17, 2013
at 8:55 pm
Glad I’m not the only one who thought of zombies when I looked at these…
By: Mel Heth on February 20, 2013
at 11:00 am
[…] may remember a post a couple of months back of some pictures that I took in the winter tule fog. Two of the pictures […]
By: Earth Day Tree | The GeekHiker on April 22, 2013
at 11:02 pm