Bishop Peak

One SLO goal on my three day weekend visit was to summit Bishop Peak, and at 1,546 feet tall, it’s the tallest of the Nine Sisters.

The Nine Sisters, aka the Morros, are volcanic peaks stretching from Morro Bay to San Luis Obispo. Bishop Peak, named after the shape of the summit rocks, is a much sought after destination for hikers and climbers.

With forecasts for the day in the high 70s, I got an early start, hitting the trailhead at Highland Drive at 7:30 AM.

The trail marker lists the Summit Trail as a black diamond. This is not for the weak kneed and out of shape (which could describe me). I duly noted the 911 sign, giving me my location.

One change in my fairly recent hiking gear is trekking poles. I once ridiculed them as useless pieces of hiking chic. But as I grew older I now see them as an essential part of my hiking get up, so much so that I keep a pair in the trunk of my car at all times. They give me more points of contact, improve balance, and take pressure off the knees. And in a pinch I recommend they could fend off a mountain lion or bear. All of which is very necessary on the over 1,200 feet elevation gain thought uneven boulder terrain that is the Summit hike.

The first part of the hike led me to the base of the peak, past a cattle pond. At the top I could see a few hikers that had already summited. They must have gotten a much earlier start and hiked under headlamps. Cal Poly student no doubt.

I passed a climbing wall to my right and my climb to the peak really began in earnest when I reached the first of many switchbacks.

The first of many switchbacks to the summit.

There was a dad with his two teenage sons who passed me. They had far less gear and no trekking poles!! I used them as a pacer, a reminder of my much slower pace, as I saw them on the switchbacks above mine. I would see their heads always moving forward above the chaparral. They were getting farther and farther ahead.

I soon started passing hikers coming down from the summit who had gone up to watch the sunrise. They had far less gear, water, and some were not even wearing hiking shoes. One group of girls had forgotten their headlamps so they had to use their phone light instead. Ah youth!

I was glad to have full sunlight and the views kept getting better and better the higher I climbed.

After hiking an hour, I could see the reddish rocks of the summit. The rocks that give the peak it’s name.

As I got closer to the summit there seemed to be a few false summits and the trail branched off in different directions, hemmed in by brush. One final scramble and I was greeted by a much appreciated bench. It was 8:35 and I had reached the top!

The much appreciated “End of Trail” bench at the summit.

I drank some water, had some trail mix, and unpacked my panoramic sketchbook. It was sketch time.

After my sketch, it was time to descend, which I figured would be much easier than the climb up. It was five minutes to nine.

On my way down I passed about 30 people on their way up, including two large families with toddlers. The summit was soon to be one crowded place. Another great reason for an early start.

At the end of my descent, I turned left at the cattle pond and walked out on the Felsman Loop Trail toward a sketching bench.

The view before me was an acknowledged Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, the 16.6 mile portion of railroad that climbs the Cuesta Grade and the series of tunnels near the summit. From my vantage point, Stenner Creek Trestle was before me and the line snakes around in the famous Horseshoe Curve.

I sketched the beautiful green Californian curvaceous hills. This was a great time to be here!

SLO’s Southern Pacific Water Tower

The view from my front door of my San Luis Obispo digs was a looming symbol of SLO’s railroad history. This is Southern Pacific’s 65,000 gallon water tower.

The tower was built in 1940 for the sum of $2,130 (about $50,000 in 2026). It solved a problem at SLO because steam locomotives that needed watering would have to leave the station and head down track for about a half a mile, to the water tower near the roundhouse. Now with the new tower, locomotive’s tenders could be watered while at the station, saving much needed time.

At the time that the new Mission Revival station was built in 1943, ten passenger train stopped at the station including the iconic Coast Daylight with the classic GS locomotives on point sporting the black, orange, and red livery of this premier passenger service. At SLO a helper would be added to assist the Daylight up Cuesta Grade and the helper would be cut off at the top in Santa Margarita.

With the end of steam at the hands of less labor intensive diesel-electric locomotives, the water tower stood unused and time took its toll. In the 1980s Southern Pacific planned to demolish the tower and the city stepped in and bought the water tower.

The water tower was saved and restored, starting in 1989, by the city of San Luis Obispo as a landmark of the deep Southern Pacific history. The full restoration was complete by 1998. Railroads have been part of SLO since 1894.

The SP Watertower as seen from the station platform. My front door is just behind the low palm tree.

I had sketched the water tower before but not from the up close and personal perspective from the front door of my apartment.

My 2021 sketch of the water tower. This is from the station platform.
The water tower and my front porch light.
Plein air porch painting.

SLO Coast Starlight

The AMTRAK route that parallels the west coast from Los Angeles to Seattle is the Coast Starlight, a journey of 1,377 miles.

In those 1,377 miles the only place that both the northbound and southbound (Trains 14 and 11) meet at a station is San Luis Obispo.

Northbound 14 arrives from Los Angeles at 2:50 PM (if on time) and waits for southbound train 11 (due at 3:24) to descend the single track down Cuesta Grade. And I planned to be there to do some sketching.

Both Coast Starlights at the station in SLO. Train 14 to the left and 11 on the right.

My plan was to sketch the northbound Train 14 at SLO station. In the age of steam, the Coast Daylight (SF to LA) stopped for only three minutes at San Luis Obispo in order to keep to its timetable.

During this short stop the Southern Pacific GS (Golden State or General Service) steam locomotives would be serviced and tender topped off with water. A helper locomotive would either be cut in or cut off depending on the direction of the Daylight.

My sketch of one of the most famous steam locomotives in the world, Southern Pacific’s GS-4 No. 4449. This has been deemed “the most beautiful passenger train in the world” and SLO was one of her stops.

Now the AMTRAK train would stop for about 15 minutes, allowing passengers a stretch break, for some passengers this is also known as a smoke break.

The Superliners at San Luis Obispo under beautiful January sun.

I figured 15 minutes was more than enough time to get a quick sketch in of the train at the platform before the locomotive’s loud retort announced its continued journey up the Cuesta Grade towards Seattle.

I took up my sketching position a little before the Starlight’s arrival. I penciled in the foreground and the trees in the background, not knowing which trees would be eclipsed by the double decker Superliner cars. The answer was: most of them.

When the train pulled into the station, I switched to pen. I love sketching without a net!

Train 11 heading towards Los Angeles with the AMTRAK’s new motive power, Seimens Charger on point. On the right is the Surfrider train on a side track.

While waiting for the northbound Coast Starlight, I found a bench and sketched the statues near the station called the Iron Road Pioneers, with Bishop Peak in the background.

The statues are a monument to the Chinese immigrant workers who built much of the railroads on the central coast as well as other seminal railroads such as the Transcontinental Railroad.

Neighborhoods: Lincoln Park and the Legion of Honor

In the northwestern corner of the San Francisco is a patch of green and an art museum.

The museum is the Legion of Honor and I headed over on a rainy Friday to see the current exhibit: Manet & Morisot. I also love to look at the museum’s permanent collection.

The museum is a 15 minute drive from my Sunset Digs and being a member means I can visit the museum as many times as I want.

One of two lions framing (or guarding) the entrance to the Legion. I sketched the other lion.

Looking at the masters: Rodin, Van Gough, Picasso, Monet, and others always inspires me to sketch. What I love about looking at the real deal as opposed to a facsimile is that you can really see the hand of the creator on the canvas or board. This was very true of the expressionists as they lay paint on in heavy patches. Step a few feet back to see what emerges!

Field sketching with Sutro Tower in the background. This tower has a way of appearing in many of my San Francisco field sketches.

Vertigo and Gallery 6 (1958)

The Legion of Honor was used as a filming location in Hitchcock’s masterpiece, Vertigo (1958).

It was featured twice, both the exterior and one of the museum’s galleries, Gallery 6.

Detective Scottie Ferguson (James Stewart) is on a case and he follows Madeleine (Kim Novak) to the Legion of Honor. She sits for hours looking at a portrait of a lady. Scottie finds out it is a portrait of a lady named Carlotta.

Looking into Gallery 6. James Stewart stood next to the column on the right and in the background Kim Novak sat on a bench toward the left wall.

While Gallery 6 still looks much the same as when filming took place here in 1957, the paintings on the wall were not here. The Carlotta portrait was painted for the film by John Ferren and removed once filming was completed. But what about the other paintings?

This view shows the wall in Gallery 6 where the portrait of Carlotta hung. Kim Novak sat on one of the benches that have not changed since 1957 although the paintings in the gallery have changed.

Now it was time for a painting goose chase and I didn’t have far to go.

In adjacent Gallery 7 I located two paintings that James Stewart stood in front of during the Gallery 6 scenes. Two pieces of San Franciscan cinema history!

This is French painter
Nicolas de Largillière’s Portrait of a Gentleman (1710).
The other painting seen behind James Stewart is by French painter Carle Vanloo and is titled Architecture (1753).

For my sketch of Galley 6 I sketched in a continuous-line technique to get the shape of the room and then lifted my pen to add details. So it’s continuous-ish.

Aerospace Museum of California

My Saturday morning sketching destination was a museum next to a former Air Force base: McClellan AFB in North Highlands Sacramento.

The museum is housed in a hangar with a solid collection of airplanes outside. To sketch the aircraft in the museum’s collection I’d have to head outside and brave the cool temps.

Planes, planes everywhere! The museum has a collection of both prop and jet planes spanning a wide range of aviation history.

I arrived just after the museum opened at 9. It was a cold morning under clear blue skies in the Central Valley.

Looking at the business end of an A-10 Warthog: a 30 mm Gau-8 Avenger was designed to destroy tanks.

I did a total of three sketches including a broken continuous- line sketch (featured sketch).

For two of my sketches I sketched from an unconventional perspective from behind the featured aircraft: A-10 and the F-4.

The McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom II is my favorite aircraft. Each time I sketch one I think I get to know it a little better.

Another sketch was of an F-86 Sabre in the hangar. This was for a previously posted post about the Farrell’s disaster.

A sketch from my sketcher’s bench. The A-10 is an absolute beast.

Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour and the Sabre (1972)

An airplane tragedy drew me to an airport just south of California’s State Capitol: Sacramento Executive Airport (SAC). At the time this was the worst air to ground disaster in United States history.

The control tower of SAC.

This was front page news when I was just over one year old in 1972. (I didn’t read the newspaper back then).

We set the scene on September 24, 1972 at about 4:25 PM.

Over the weekend the airport hosted an air show: the Golden West Sport Aviation Air Show.

A sketch of the Canadair Sabre about a year before the September 1972.

On Sunday afternoon, one of the aircraft featured in the show, a Canadair F-86 Sabre, piloted by Richard Bingham, lined up on Runway 30 and he pushed the throttle forward for takeoff. The plane’s destination was Oakland Airport.

Looking down Runway 30 from Freeport Boulevard. The Cessna above has just taken off.

As the Korean War era jet gained speed on the runway, Bingham pulled back on the stick. The nose pitched up into the air at a steep angle but the pilot made a fatal mistake. He over rotated the Sabre.

Bingham, an experienced pilot, had less than four hours of flight time with the Sabre. When you over rotate on takeoff you position the aircraft’s nose at an angle at which the plane’s wings do not generate enough lift and the plane cannot take off. Each aircraft has a peak range of lift, and the Sabre was known to lift prematurely on takeoff since the 1950s.

The Sabre sped towards the end of the runway, a dirt berm, a chain link perimeter fence, Freeport Boulevard, and the Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour, packed with families enjoying Sunday afternoon sweets.

The Sabre struck the berm shearling off the two external fuel tanks causing a massive explosion. The jet burst through the chain link fence and across Freeport Boulevard, hitting a car and killing its passengers.

The Sabre crossed into the parking lot, totaling two cars before it hit Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour at an estimated 200 miles per hour.

The deviation was heartbreaking. In that instance, 22 people lost their lives, including 12 children who were enjoying their time at Farrell’s. 28 people were also injured.

One eight year old, lost nine family members. A young sister, lost her twin sister.

Ironically, Richard Bingham, the pilot, survived with just a broken arm and leg. He never flew again.

Some good did come from this disaster. Laws were changed regarding flying vintage aircraft and qualifying pilots. Also because burn victims had to be flown to San Francisco or Los Angeles to be treated, in the wake of the Sabre crash, a burn unit was established in Sacramento.

It’s About Time: The Memorial

It was not until 30 years later that a memorial was placed near the location of the front door of the now gone ice cream parlor.

The memorial plaque lists the names of those who perished, first the children and then the adults. What is stunning is the repeated surnames. This tragedy destroyed families.

Here is the inscription on the plaque:


“Believe with the heart of a child; find courage, comfort, and strength there.” – Kerri Francis McCluskey, Kristi’s Twin Sister

In loving memory of the children

Kristin “Kristi” Dawn Francis · Elaine June Jugum · Nancy Teresa Keys · Sally Ann Keys · Brandon Warren Krier · Jennifer Ann Krier · Gregory Gene Martin · Jeanene Louise Martin · Shawn Anthony Martin · Gary Wayne Nash · Jeffrey Allen Nash · Nancy Ann Rodriguez

In loving memory of the adults

Joan Southwick Bacci · Billie Gertrude Irwin · Louis “Bud” Jugum · Sandra Ann Creasey Krier · Warren Krier · Gene Wilson LaVine · Margaret May LaVine · Sue Martin · Anthony Lloyd Martin · Ellen Warram · Leon Warram

At this site, on September 24, 1972, a vintage Korean War jet attempting to take off from Sacramento’s Executive Airport crashed into a crowded Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlor killing twelve children and eleven adults, as well as injuring many others. At that time this tragedy was the worst air-ground disaster in our country’s history. This memorial is dedicated to all of the victims.”

Sketching Notes

For my spread about the Farrell’s tragedy I first sketched the map of the airport and title before I went to Sacramento.

I knew that they had an F-86 Sabre at the Aerospace Museum of California and I planned to sketch the iconic nose of the fighter to the right of my sketchbook.

The machine guns of the Sabre.

I then headed south of the State Capitol to the former site of Farrell’s to sketch the memorial.

This firefighter building is on the site of the former Farrell’s Ice Cream Parlour.

On a personal note, there was a Farrell’s in my hometown. It was one of those special occasion restaurants when someone had a birthday (you got a free sundae if it was) or if someone was visiting from out of town.

The business was started in Portland, Oregon in 1963. At the height of the company’s growth there were 120 locations nationwide.

The 1890s themed ice cream parlor featured employees dressed in period costumes, a player piano, and massive ice cream sundae called the “Zoo” which would be carried out on a stretcher by employees running wildly through the restaurant to the sound of ambulance sirens.

On September 24, 1972, the sirens were real.

Mendocino Headlands State Park

Sketching the Mendocino Headlands calls for my panoramic journal to capture the wide views. So I did.

In the early morning I headed out to the Headlands and sketched a rock form with two arched tunnels. I think I’ve sketched this rock before but from a different angle.

The rocks within the bays have become islands that offers a protected roosting spots for birds such as western gulls, black oystercatchers, brown pelicans, Canada goose, and turkey vultures.

I sketched three vultures, affectionately known as TVs, warming up on such an island.

One of my favorite sketches at Mendocino Headlands State Park was from the beach where the Big River enters the Pacific just south of the historic town of Mendocino.

The beach was covered with driftwood and I found a large former tree to sit on and I started to sketch the scene before me (featured sketch).

A sketchers in Paradise!

Watertower Controversy

The residents of Mendocino are concerned with preserving the heritage of the town and keeping Mendocino, well, Mendocino.

This means keeping buildings as they are, restricting construction in historical areas, and preserving the town’s watertowers.

There is one watertower on Main Street that has been slated to be torn down so I thought I better sketch it while I can.

The 1904 watertower has been deemed unsafe and it is not cost effective to repair the tower so once again the battle between heritage/history and money rears its ugly head.

I saw lots of “Save the Watertower” flyers in shopfront windows. Time will tell if Mendocino can save this historic structure.

The Skunk Train: Steam Deferred

It can be a hard time for tourist railroads with the rising operational costs such as maintaining the locomotives, rolling stock, tracks, bridges, and tunnels.

The California Western Railroad aka the Skunk Train went from Fort Bragg on the coast, 40 miles east to Willits. That is until tunnel Number One collapsed in 2013, cutting the line in two disconnected segments.

The line currently runs trains out of both ends. The Fort Bragg side runs for about three miles and stops at the entrance to the tunnel (which will take about $300,000 to reopen.)

I rode the Skunk from Fort Bragg a while back and it seems just as the train gets going it stops, halted by the collapsed tunnel. Not much of a ride with the many bridges and redwood scenery on the other side of the tunnel.

The skunk train is now under diesel-electric motive power. The afternoon Skunk pulls into the Fort Bragg Depot. EMD GP9 No. 66 is on point. On the left is the M-300 motor car.

The real star of the railroad is the Mikado (2-8-2) Number 45. The steam locomotive was built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1924.

The 101 year old locomotive is now undergoing a rebuilt in the engine house. It will likely be a year and a half before the sounds of 45’s whistle echos along the coastline. Hopefully the line will then be opened to Willits.

The three bay engine house. In the right bay sits No. 45.

The side door to the engine house was open allowing me to get a sketch in of CWR No. 45. In her current state she seems a long way off from riding the high iron.

A rainy morning car sketch of the Skunk Train Depot in Fort Bragg.

Sketching the Mendo Coast

I found plenty of sketching subjects on a Monday morning drive north from my Caspar digs on the Mendocino Coast: two whales and a rock shaped like an elephant.

My first “whale” was to be found in Westport (population 299) about 15 miles north of Fort Bragg on Highway One.

If you build a whale, they will come. At least that’s what I think the sculpture/creator thought and I did come to sketch it. At onetime you could enter the belly of the whale and recline and watch television. Now it seemed closed to the public with a sign on the white picket fence warning of the Dalmatian. I didn’t see the Dalmatian, so I guessed I would be safe.

Thar she blows!!

Some things are beyond the realm of understanding such is the gray sperm whale in the front yard in Westport. Everyone knows that gray whales are the stars of the Mendocino Coast whale migration not Moby Dick!

Roadside attraction gone bad or failed hotel room, who knows! I sketched it anyway.

I retraced by way south to Blues Beach. My next sketching subject was a large rock which, if your squinted, looked like a pachyderm, hence the name Elephant Rock.

My final whale sketch was alas, a real whale. At least a former one. This was to found at MacKerricher State Park just north of Fort Bragg.

Near the visitors center is a collection of whale bones. The 32 foot gray whale skeleton was what caught my sketcher’s eye.

I seated myself on a nearby picnic table and started to sketch the jigsaw bones of the gray whale.

The gray whale migration should begin in earnest in February as adults would be heading south to their birthing lagoons in Baja California.

McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II

I returned to the Pacific Coast Air Museum in northern Santa Rosa to sketch one of my favorite airplanes: the F-4 Phantom II.

Throughout my life I have been fascinated by things with wings: birds and airplanes. Growing up in Sunnyvale, California, my bedroom window looked out towards the flight path on final approach to Moffett Field, US Navy base.

During my childhood, the most common aircraft that flew by my window was the submarine hunter P-3 Orion. The patrol aircraft were stationed at Moffett.

Every summer, we headed up to the roof during the annual air show to watch the Blue Angels. At the time they flew A-4 Skyhawks but in the year of my birth they, and the Air Force performance team the Thunderbirds, flew the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II.

This airplane is a beast. At the time it was one of the most powerful fighters in the air reaching speed just over Mach 2. It had earned the nickname the “Flying Brick”.

A docent at the museum who was stationed on an aircraft carrier said you new when you were in the mess when an F-4 took off because you coffee cup shook with power of the fighter’s thrust.

A pre-museum sketch of an aerial beast.

A childhood hobby was building scale model airplanes and my favorite was an F-4 hand painted camo livery.

Looking head on at the F-4C.

I was now going to Santa Rosa to sketch a full scale fighter with a similar camo paint scheme.

The iconic vertical and angled horizontal stabilizers of the F-4. This jet is an absolute beast.
A continuous line sketch of four planes at the museum. The plane on the left, F/A 18 Hornet is what the Blue Angels currently fly. The camouflaged F-4 is on the right.