On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
dmkingto
Just some random scenes from around the San Francisco Bay Area over the years.
Late afternoon at Ocean Beach, SF. That’s the Marin Headlands in the distance and the opening to the Golden Gate is along the right edge of the photo. (Taken on iPhone 5s)
A reed stuck in an intake pipe eddy near one of the Sunnyvale Water Pollution Control Plant ponds. (iPhone XS)
Looking west from the hills above Pacifica with the fog rolling in from the Pacific. In SF, the fog is called Karl. I’m not sure if this is still Karl down in Pacifica. (iPhone XS)
Sunset over the ponds and sloughs near the Sunnyvale WPC plant. (iPhone XS)
One of the ancient oaks at the Russian River Open Space Preserve. (iPhone XS)
A hillside trail with the fog rolling in from the west. Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. (iPhone 12 Pro)
A misty morning looking over the Sunnyvale WPCP West Pond. (iPhone 12 Pro)
Some folks about to head up the stairs to the top of a former landfill (located where else but at the west end of the Sunnyvale WPCP). There’s a nice view from the top of the ponds and the bay. And a less dramatic view of parts of Sunnyvale and Mountain View. (iPhone 15 Pro Max)
An old bunker that was part of the fortifications at Ft. Funston (now part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area). This was originally on top of a cliff at the beach, but the cliffs are eroding away. This is looking north. (iPhone 15 Pro Max)
Some colorful garage doors just off the lower Great Highway at the southwest most corner of the Sunset District in SF. (iPhone 15 Pro Max)
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Baud
Beautiful. I love California.
donatellonerd
thank you. these are almost all lovely and personally moving to me. and the bunker is interesting and the garage doors made me smile (not so easy to do these days)
daize
Beautiful. Thank you for sharing them.
Winter Wren
Great photos – I particularly like the hillside trail.
stinger
Great photos! I especially love the one of Karl! And the Sunnyvale misty morning, where the mist almost obscures the horizon. In the sunset photo, the sun is so bright I instinctively look elsewhere to protect my retinas, as if it were outside my own window. Also the two shots at Russian Ridge. Just lovely, all.
H.E.Wolf
Such quiet beauty in your photos. Thank you for a serene and contemplative start to the morning.
Ms. Deranged in AZ
These are lovely. You have a good eye for composition!
arrieve
I grew up in the Richmond District in San Francisco so spent a lot of time at Ocean Beach. I love the fog picture–the fog in the Bay Area is truly magical. I never heard it referred to as Karl, though–maybe that’s a more recent thing.
Great pictures that really capture the Bay Area.
ETA: I see that Karl the Fog dates from 2010, so long after my time.
Steve in the ATL
Impressive work! There are some extremely talented photographers at B-J. I may have to retire my Instamatic in shame.
twbrandt
I worked for a Bay Area startup from 2010-2015, and spent a lot of time out there. I just loved it. So lovely. Thanks for sharing!
MCat
I live in this area. I can see hills and fog out my apartment windows. I love it here. Your photos are a lovely way to start the day. Thanks!
Habitat Gardener
We are in the process of moving from North Carolina back home to the Bay Area. Your photos reinforce that this is a good decision. I can’t wait to get out in it. Bye bye to hellish heat and humidity.
kindness
I’ve never heard of the fog in SF being called Karl & I’ve been here since the late 70’s. We travel in different circles I guess. Great shots. Obviously early spring. 2/3 of the year everything is called golden but what it really is is dead & dried out grasses that are light tan to brown. It only rains in the winter out here.
PJ
Very good photos, thank you for these.
WaterGirl
I tried to pick my favorite photo, but I couldn’t . I got it down to 5, though! Just lovely and peaceful and magical.
KSinMA
Beautiful! Thanks.
Dmkingto
@kindness: I had never heard of the fog being named until I moved back to the area 8 years ago. But it looks like @arrieve did the research and it dates to 2010. So a fairly recent phenomenon. It sort of seems like something Herb Caen and/or his reader/contributors would have come up with way back in the day.
Dmkingto
Thanks for all the kind comments, folks! Glad you like them.
dnfree
My dad and mom met in San Francisco during the war, he an Iowa farm boy about to head to the Pacific in the Navy, and she a West Virginia native who had moved out there. After his ship was bombed and limped back to California for repairs, they married. Before his ship headed out again toward Japan in August 1945, she was pregnant, making me one of the first baby boomers. So the Bay Area holds a special place in our family’s hearts. After the war, she wanted to stay in San Francisco, but he had a job waiting for him in Rockford Illinois, which is why I’m still in northern Illinois. Thanks for sharing these beautiful photos. I will share with my two brothers who live in the Bay Area. They consider themselves the “smart ones”.
TheOtherHank
I don’t know about anyone else in Pacifica, but this Pacifica resident calls the fog Karl. My recollection of the origins of the name is that someone started a Twitter account dedicated to Karl the Fog and it caught on.
Jacel
@TheOtherHank: Yes, Karl The Fog started on Twitter in 2010. Looks like Karl last posted there in 2024 and is now on at karlthefog.bsky.social. A typical message was “I am eating your city.”
I wonder if that bunker seen at beach level was one higher on the cliff we used to play around circa 1970?
BigJimSlade
Very nice!
Tehanu
Nice photos, thank you.
Kimmel
@Dmkingto: I think one of the TV news and weather reports came up with the name. That’s the first place I heard it.
WaterGirl
@Kimmel: Welcome!
Kimmel
@Dmkingto:
@WaterGirl:
@WaterGirl: Thank you!