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Sanchez’ Corner

Arizona | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States

Pooch Picks: Northern Arizona

July 3, 2022 by Sanchez

Hello, friends! It’s been so long since I’ve popped on here to share my recommendations with you. What can I say? My mom can’t seem to keep up with her own shit, and it’s kind of hard for me to … Read More

Hikes | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States | Washington
Lake Wenatchee State Park

Hey everyone! It’s Sanchez. I’m hijacking this post from my mom. Don’t get me wrong – she’s okay at this writing thing, but Lake Wenatchee was my absolute favorite place in Leavenworth. I want to make sure it gets the … Read More

June 6, 2021 0
Montana | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States
Pooch Picks: Whitefish, MT

Guys, northwest Montana is such an amazing place! I was a little uneasy when I first arrived. I had watched as my mom and dad packed up all my things in North Carolina, and then I spent four days road-tripping … Read More

October 15, 2020 0
Montana | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States
Boondogging

Holy cow, it’s been forever since my mom let me write up one of our adventures! I feel the same as, presumably, most of you readers – that the pup’s perspective has been severely lacking on our blog lately. I … Read More

September 9, 2020 1
New Hampshire | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States
Dog Days of Summer

Sorry it’s taken me so long to publish this blog post. It’s totally my mom’s fault. I’ve been bugging her for weeks, but she’s been too busy working on her TEFL certificate to help proofread my work. Lucky for me, … Read More

November 30, 2018 0
Florida | North America | Sanchez' Corner | United States
Sanchez Does Sanibel

I know my mom already typed up a pretty nice report about the Gulf Coast’s renowned shelling destination – Sanibel, FL – but I figured I’d offer a dog’s perspective on the small barrier island. The day before mom’s birthday, … Read More

November 15, 2017 1
Sanchez' Corner | Travel Tips
Pooch Picks: Great gear for dogs

Since my mom has posted quite a bit about her favorite travel essentials and how to pack for long-term travel, she asked if I’d like to similarly share my top picks for my fellow pup travelers out there. I came … Read More

September 25, 2017 0
Around the World 2016 | Sanchez' Corner
Our Happy Tail

Well, here we are… now just over two months removed from our unbelievable year on the road (gosh, it feels like just yesterday we were packing our bags to leave). Rather than wistfully typing from the stiff seat of a … Read More

February 24, 2017 1
Around the World 2016 | Elephant Nature Park | Sanchez' Corner | Thailand | Wildlife
Elephant Nature Park: Part II

Stephan and I excitedly dedicated a week of our Thailand adventure to volunteering at Elephant Nature Park. While I anticipated a really unique and special experience, I was completely unprepared for the emotional journey I was about to be embarking … Read More

May 10, 2016 2
Guess what’s started poppin’ here in Cali? Guess what’s started poppin’ here in Cali?
‘But I swear in the days still left We’ll walk ‘But I swear in the days still left
We’ll walk in fields of gold.’
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Wild mustard blooms, Sonoma
Since we’re totally loving our seaside excursion Since we’re totally loving our seaside excursions as of late, here’s one more super cool critter for you. This video shows the swaying tube feet of an eccentric sand dollar – a species of burrowing sea urchin native to Northern California and much of North America’s Pacific seaboard.

For those who haven’t seen a live sand dollar before, these filter-feeding invertebrates are kind of captivating. I was totally mesmerized by the motion of this little one’s tube feet, and could have watched the graceful ballet for hours.

Tube feet are part of the sand dollar’s water vascular system, which uses hydraulic pressure to propel these structures back and forth. Similar to their starfish and urchin relatives, sand dollars’ tube feet are not just vital for locomotion, but also feeding, waste removal and respiration.

If you stumble upon a stranded sand dollar, offer a helping hand and move them gently back to the water with their bottom-side (tube feet and mouths) facing down. They can’t survive long out of the sea, and would certainly appreciate an assist in getting back to their cozy marine homes.

On one of our recent outings, Stephan and I stumbled upon dozens of sand dollars washed up on shore. The next two and half hours turned into a massive rescue mission, as we returned countless animals back to the shallows over a two-mile stretch of sand. Sanchez even became quite the happy helper, pointing out every small, spiny, purple mound she spotted and alerting us to its presence. With a surprisingly long lifespan of up to ten years, we certainly hope that some of our vulnerable little friends ended up faring okay.
Meet today’s tidepool critter – the bat star. Meet today’s tidepool critter – the bat star.

These striking, webbed echinoderms can be found in a wide variety of color variations, from mottled brown, red and orange to yellow, purple and even blue. They’re typically found in rocky, intertidal zones and kelp forests along the Pacific Coast.

Although common and widely-distributed, bat stars and their Pacific Coast relatives are increasingly becoming victims to sea star wasting disease. The disease causes lesions and rapid tissue decay, and is likely caused by a type of copiotrophic marine bacteria. Copiotrophs are microorganisms that live in nutrient-rich environments with a lot of organic matter (carbon). When the bacteria are present, they create toxic conditions for the starfish by depleting the water of oxygen – essentially suffocating the animals.

Researchers believe that warmer sea temperatures associated with climate change have worsened disease in starfish and, consequently, have led to massive die-offs in recent years. Because warmer water has both less oxygen and more organic matter, these copiotrophic microbes are able to thrive. It’s not yet known how well the sea stars will be able to rebound, but it’s yet another reminder for us to be mindful of our actions and focus on making even small changes for the good of our planet.
When we came to Cali, I kind of thought we were he When we came to Cali, I kind of thought we were headed to that sunshine state with a bomb ass hemp beat. Instead, we seem to have found ourselves in the land of the perpetual atmospheric river.

Whatever. When life gives you your very own lemon tree… well, you know what to do.

#keepitrockin #shakeitcali
Views for days along the Sonoma Coast. 😎 Views for days along the Sonoma Coast. 😎
Although I often feel like I’m meant to be in th Although I often feel like I’m meant to be in the mountains, I think I’ve found my own little slice of happiness here in northern California. Namely, wandering around the tidepools along the Sonoma Coast.

When I was in sixth grade, I wanted to be a marine biologist when I grew up. A major portion of that year’s science curriculum focused on cetaceans, and even included a whale-watching trip out of P-town. I adored everything we learned in Ms. Audette’s class, and she was one of the first teachers that made me fall head over heels in love with all things science.

Although I stuck with that early ambition of becoming a scientist, my path ultimately led me to study microbes and immune cells – things that are significantly smaller than our great ocean giants. That said, I never lost that first love of the sea…

If you need to find me over the next two and a half months, I’ll be habitually living out my childhood dreams in the intertidal zone, splashing around and shrieking with the excitement of my eleven-year-old self. In just a couple outings, we’ve found a treasure trove of marine life: ochre sea stars; moonglow, sunburst, and giant green anemone; gooseneck barnacles; and a host of other mollusks and crustaceans. While I still find myself yearning for some soaring summits, I can’t wait to see what else we discover here at sea level.
The weather here in Cali has been kind of wild and The weather here in Cali has been kind of wild and wacky since our arrival, but that hasn’t stopped us from getting out for a little bit of exploring.

One of our recent outings took us to the small coastal community of Pacifica, about twenty minutes south of San Francisco. After a visit to Humble Sea Brewing to sample some of their killer foggy IPAs, we headed over to the Pedro Point Headlands for a little stroll along the seaside bluffs.
While The Wave is most iconic and most hyped featu While The Wave is most iconic and most hyped feature in Coyote Buttes North, the whole landscape is pretty breathtaking. If you’re lucky enough to win a permit, definitely take some time to explore.
A few of our favorite shots from The Wave. For th A few of our favorite shots from The Wave.

For those unfamiliar with The Wave, it is a striking sandstone formation that sits just south of the Utah/Arizona border in a remote corner of the Paria Canyon/Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness. The formation began to take shape around 190 million years ago, when ancient desert sands became cemented into what’s now known as Navajo sandstone. In the millions of years that followed, continuous erosion sculpted the rock into the swirling strata that can be seen today.

Hiking to The Wave is quite restricted, and requires entering a lottery that issues just a few dozen permits per day. The BLM estimates the chance of scoring a permit is around just 4–8%. When I opened my email and saw a congratulatory message stating ‘action required’ in the subject line, I was dumbfounded. Not only did we win, but having applied for the daily lottery, we had exactly twelve hours before going to pick up our permit in Kanab.

We weren’t exactly sure what the day was going to bring. We knew when we applied that dicey weather and road conditions made January and February the least favorable months to try to visit The Wave. Indeed, as we quickly skimmed accounts from the few weeks prior, we read report after report of The Wave being obscured by snow and House Rock Valley Road being intermittently impassable with mud. Admittedly, our excitement began to wane slightly.

With some crazy amount of luck still on our side, however, we ended up having absolutely flawless conditions. With the exception of the crossing at Buckskin Gulch, the eight-mile road out to the Wire Pass Trailhead was shockingly good… exponentially better than the OHV road we once managed to navigate our Crosstrek up in the San Juans. With full sun, no wind, and temperatures topping out in the upper 40s, you couldn’t have asked for a more perfect day to wander around the desert.
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  • About
    • About Us
    • About the Blog
  • Blog
    • Recent
    • Travel Tips
    • Sanchez’ Corner
    • Around the World 2016
  • Hikes
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