Carl Nolte

1 week ago | sanluisobispo.com | Carl Nolte

I was thinking of a June day in the mountains and a long pull through some rough country. We'd stopped at a small creek, tired, out of breath. We could see the way ahead in the distance, a high pass miles away. Very discouraging. "Relax," my hiking companion said, "We're halfway there."That's where we all are just now. It's mid-June and the summer solstice comes on Friday. It's the longest day of the year, a time the ancients celebrated the turn of the season.

1 week ago | sfchronicle.com | Carl Nolte

Taking in the sun at Union Square in San Francisco on a June day. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleA great horned owl, one of four in a group, was recently spotted in San Francisco, joining seals, coyotes, raccoons and parrots among the distinctive wildlife of the city. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleOn a recent Sunday, Union Square in San Francisco featured a kids’ playground as well as a reading room. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleFlowers cover a San Francisco hill, helping mark spring’s advance into summer.

2 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Carl Nolte

San Francisco looks beautiful from the bay, but a closer glance in its neighborhood reveals an alternative reality. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleThe Golden Gate Bridge’s north tower as seen from San Francisco Bay. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleA homeless person in San Francisco sleeps in a bus shelter with an advertisement for artificial intelligence. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleThe Golden Gate Bridge’s south tower as seen from the S.F. Bay. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleI have a friend who owns a beautiful car.

3 weeks ago | sacbee.com | Carl Nolte

May 31-There are only two people left in the world who really know what it was like to be a prisoner on Alcatraz, the legendary island in San Francisco Bay. One is Charlie Hopkins, who lives in Florida. The other is William Baker, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, and is spending the summer in San Francisco. Hopkins, a kidnapper and robber who spent three years on Alcatraz, is 93. Baker, a counterfeiter and escape artist, spent four. Baker is 92.

3 weeks ago | sfchronicle.com | Carl Nolte

Former Alcatraz Federal Penitentiary inmate William Baker holds his book about his time on the Rock, “Alcatraz #1259,” in San Francisco. Carl Nolte/S.F. ChronicleThere are only two people left in the world who really know what it was like to be a prisoner on Alcatraz, the legendary island in San Francisco Bay. One is Charlie Hopkins, who lives in Florida. The other is William Baker, who lives in Toledo, Ohio, and is spending the summer in San Francisco.