Gas is killing me...

But its worth it!  Went over to Cali again for the weekend for more herping.
I told myself I was going to herp as much as possible this year and so
far so good.  First stop was in Alemeda Co.  I met up with Chad and his
finace and we headed out.

Adult Diablo Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus zaxanthus)
 

Pics from a short trip to the Carson River...

This area is less than 2 hours from the house.  It's a nice spot because you need a 4x4
to get to it so there really aren't too many people down there.  The trails around this area
are rocky and in some cases might be mildly difficult for a stock vehicle.

Gone Fishin'

This morning we got up at 6:00am and went up to Frenchman Lake to see if we could
land some trout. The morning started slow with no action.  Having never fished for lake
trout before with any success, both me and my brother we slightly discouraged as we
both kinda knew we were going about it the wrong way.

Poison Oak Inevitable. :(

Sunday was equally as interesting.  We left Santa Rosa and headed south
into San Francisco.  Linda and I enjoyed a plate each of Okonomiyaki from
Izumiya.


Linda stayed in J-Town to shop while I took off for another afternoon of herping.

Flipped my first hot!!!!

Again we set out into the wilds of northern California for a bloated day
of field herping.  My goals: Rattle Snake, King Snake, Ringneck Snake
and Rubber Boa.  Three outta four ain't bad!!!

We'll start with a nice habitat shot by Kyotopunk.

The boys all together...

It's been a while since me, my dad and both of my brothers were assembled
in the same spot.  It was awesome to hang out. We attempted the hike to
Rock Lake, but up there the snow was waist deep.

Needle Rock...

...at least that is what I think it is called.  I've wanted to hike to it for a while
now, and so we did.