In the summer of 2022, I was on the road for Bold Bison for thirty-five days, with the vast majority on the West Coast. Combining multiple projects and meetings into one long trip was a way to be able to be onsite with our clients as inexpensively as possible. In addition, I was able to revisit a few National Park units, both on official business and on my downtime. Any unit I visited would have to be a revisit of a Park I’d already been to with Sean so that we didn’t get misaligned. Still coming out of the pandemic, having a good long time on the road was good for my mental health, although I was disappointed that Sean wasn’t able to join for at least part of the adventure.

I flew out to Portland, Oregon late in the evening on Sunday, June 26 [2022].

I spent my first day on the West Coast hiking to Oregon’s Abiqua Falls with my cousin, Amy. It was the perfect start to the trip.

Later in the afternoon, Amy and I picked up Patrick from PDX. After dropping Amy off at home, Patrick and I drove down to McMinnville, Oregon.

Tuesday and Wednesday that week, the Bold Bison guys were at NW Land Camp, the biennial gathering of land trusts and conservation organizations for Washington, Oregon, and Idaho. In addition to attending some stellar sessions led by BIPOC women, we delivered a seminar on video production.

Later that week, Patrick flew to Denver to spend the Independence Day holiday in the mountains. We would reconnect early the following week in San Francisco.

I spent a few nights in Portland working remotely from the Society Hotel, which Sean and I had discovered in 2019 on our big “Shasta” trip. It was fun to be back at the Society, but the pandemic years had definitely left Portland a bit worse for wear.

On Friday, July 1 [2022], I had a morning coffee with my friend, Gayle, and then decided to go exploring. I took myself on a mini-roadtrip east through the Columbia Gorge until I could see the arid parts of Oregon east of the Cascades.

Then I looped back around into the mountains and up onto the shoulder of Mount Hood.

Back in Portland, I didn’t stop. Instead I drove on out to the Oregon Coast and had a look at Cannon Beach.

I made it back into town early enough to grab a photo of the Alpenglow on Mount Hood with downtown Portland in the foreground.

Next day, Saturday, July 2 [2022], I flew from Portland to San Francisco.

The view from my high-floor room at the Intercontinental in SoMa was just stupid. I could see a great south-facing sweep from Berkeley and Oakland, down the Bay, and then SoMa, the Mission, and Dolores Park.

If Sean had been able to join for part of the trip, this would have been it. Unfortunately, airfare in the summer of 2022 was ridiculous. He did not need to spend $1,200 to fly to San Francisco for a long weekend. So I was on my own.

I had planned to hang out with my friend, Patch, and head with him to Point Reyes National Seashore for a day, but he contracted COVID. So I really was left to my own devices.

On the Fourth of July, I went on a long walk through the city. I stopped by SF MoMA to see the Diego Rivera Pan American Unity mural.

I continued through a very quiet downtown to the waterfront, then followed it all the way around to Fisherman’s Wharf.

People were gathering for the fireworks. At Maritime Garden, across from San Francisco Maritime National Historical Park, the Park Service was setting up the concert stage for the fireworks.

I had little interest in the fireworks or the crowds, so I headed south and began an ascent toward Nob Hill to get back to the Intercontinental.

That evening, I lounged in my hotel room watching neighborhood fireworks light up the Mission.

Next day, I worked remotely until mid-afternoon, then I went out exploring.

I took a nice long walk up to Dolores Park and the Castro and back. I checked out a bookstore, got a burrito for dinner.

Patrick arrived late that evening.

Next day, Wednesday, July 6 [2022], we were supposed to have had a client lunch, but it got cancelled at the last minute. We worked from the hotel until mid-afternoon before heading out and exploring.

Patrick had never been to Lands End, so we took a Lyft out to the northwest edge of the city to explore this part of Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

For me, walking around the cliffs and overlooks and then down to Ocean Beach was largely a repeat of what Sean and I had done in 2019.

A dramatic layer of fog was settling over the Marin Headlands, but the peninsula side of the Golden Gate was sunny.

We passed the Sutro Baths ruins and Cliff House and descended to Ocean Beach.

Then we headed into Golden Gate Park.

Not too far into the park, we came across some commotion as folks spotted a Coyote just off the trail. We saw it, but we weren’t able to grab a photo of it before it vanished. It was amusing to see people’s reactions to it. Some hoped to see it again. Others were a little nervous, particularly about their pets. One woman commented to us that there were baby Racoons. That’s all. Baby Racoons.

The Coyote sighting was near the southern edge of North Lake, so Patrick and I headed up the path on the lake’s west side to see if we could spot the Coyote. Along the way, we spotted other wildlife, like a juvenile Black-Crowned Night Heron.

And a Racoon.

Then, near the north end. of the lake, we got a massive treat. We spotted a family of Coyotes, including several pups, lounging and playing near their den, presumably, on a small island.

It was an absolute delight to get to observe them either unaware or unconcerned (likely the latter) that they were being watched.

The pups had yet to grow into their big feet and big ears.

After our Coyote excitement, we wandered over to the Bison paddock before grabbing a Lyft back to the hotel.

Later, we walked through the Stockton Tunnel to Chinatown for a very yummy dinner at China Live. Afterward, we wandered down Columbus toward downtown and then up Market to our hotel. Patrick resolved that he and and his partner, Matt, needed to return to San Francisco sooner rather than later.

Next day, we’d continue the trip with a drive to the Sierra Nevada to meet with clients.