In February 2021, I went several hikes in Sunol Regional Wilderness in Sunol, CA. The photos were taken on the 3rd, the 17th, and the 26th. I hope you enjoy the photos.
High Resolution Photos: If you want to see full resolution photos of any of the photos you see here, use the following links. If you wish to purchase prints of any of the photos, please contact me here. To view my best Sunol Regional Wilderness photos, use this link. To see all of my photos from this trip, use this link.Message From The Photographer: Hello everyone! I know it has been a very long time since I posted photos from my mirrorless camera (I have posted some cellphone photos this year). This is due to my partial vision loss caused by visual snow syndrome and migraines. While my day time vision has recovered a bit during 2021, the neurological vision loss is still quite a huge issue for me, and it also makes me night blind. I have not been able to take many photos, and the last time I even took a real camera out on a trip (a.k.a. my mirrorless camera) was in May. I have a lot of trouble taking new photos, let alone processing and sorting them afterwards. So new photos on this blog will slow down until such time they find a cure for my conditions. Since visual snow syndrome is a neurological disorder, and is an issue with how the brain is processing visual information from the eyes (my eyes are healthy), I'm hoping a treatment can be found soon. Couple all that with the COVID-19 pandemic, and worsening mental health (PTSD, depression, anxiety, and half a year of anorexia) due to the pandemic isolation, this is why I'm only now posting my February photos. I'm just happy to be finally able to release some new photos onto this blog. 😀 There will be 5 more blog posts with my mirrorless camera photos after this one.
Scenery photo of clouds and mountain shot from McCorkle Trail.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 30' 35" N 121° 49' 12" W
A black and white process of the photo above.
Scenery photo of clouds and mountain shot from McCorkle Trail.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 30' 47" N 121° 48' 57" W
Scenery photo of clouds and mountain shot from Cerro Este Road.
The lighting was very weird once the clouds rolled in, and I thought it would make an interesting photo.
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 31' 00" N 121° 48' 43" W
Scenery photo of clouds and mountains shot from McCorkle Trail.
In the photo are Calaveras Reservoir (left), and Monument Peak & Mt. Allison (right).
Approximate GPS location (type into Google): 37° 30' 55" N 121° 48' 18" W
A black and white process of the photo above.
The previous photo is the last photo from the hike on the 3rd. At this point, it has gotten pretty dark, and I didn't notice the very interesting light pattern coming through the clouds until my mom pointed it out. I was busy trying my best to navigate the trail with my limited vision (which has started to fail from the decrease in sunlight). I wasn't able to take any more photos past this point as I could no longer see well enough, and I was rushing to finish the complicated portion of the trail before my vision completely fails for the night (I had several miles left at this point). My mom generally starts to verbally and physically guide me once my vision starts to fail for the night on hikes. I also rely on my 2 hiking poles to prevent falling and tripping, and my extremely bright, portable flashlights to over power my night blindness and light the way (it's a lot brighter than flashlights you normally find in stores).
I admit this hike ware poorly planned, but being a photographer all these years, I knew the clouds rolling in will most likely result in some really nice scenery I can take photos of. I've been dealing with vision loss since 2018 so I should have known better at this point. It was a pretty poor decision on my end, but I made it home in one piece, so yay! 😅
Just a little note for the followers here who are wondering how I hike with vision impairment. If my visual snow symptoms are really acting up that day, I'd bring my white cane or I'd postpone a hike. The condition is neurological, so it can occasionally flare up and increase vision disturbances. My day time vision has actually recovered a bit in 2021, so I've been able to get away with not using my cane during the day time occasionally, and use my super bright flashlights at night to overpower my night blindness in a pinch (it's definitely not a replacement for my white cane at night). My mom comes with me on all my hikes and helps guide me and keep me out of danger, I never hike alone.
Scenery photo from Sunol Regional Wilderness.
My GPS logger failed on this trip, so there is no GPS locations from the 17th.
Scenery photo from Sunol Regional Wilderness.
A black and white process of the photo above.
Scenery photo from Sunol Regional Wilderness.
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
In the photo are San Francisco, CA (in the distance on the left), and Tri-Valley & Mt. Diablo (in the distance on the right).
Scenery photo of mountain shot from Cerro Este Road.
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
In the photo are Tri-Valley & Mt. Diablo (in the distance).
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
In the photo are Tri-Valley & Mt. Diablo (in the distance).
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
In the photo is the San Francisco Bay Area (in the distance).
Scenery photo of houses and mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
A black and white process of the photo above.
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Cerro Este Road.
This is the last photo from my hike on the 17th.
Scenery photo of mountains shot from Flag Hill Loop Trail.
Starting from the foreground is: Flag Hill Trail, Ohlone Road, and Calavaras Reservoir.
This is the only photo I took on my hike on the 26th.
