Dan's Outside

Two hikes… or was it three?

I managed to get out for morning hikes (and photo shoots) on both Saturday and Sunday mornings this weekend. On Saturday I started out at Calero County Park. I arrived very early, expecting to have the park pretty much to myself at first, but was surprised to find the parking lot filled with cars before the sun came out – apparently this was the weekend of the Tierra Bella bike ride and Calero was a rest stop. In any case, I wandered out along my usual route past Castillero Pond, making photographs of birds and of the light as the early fog cleared.

A bit later I decided that rather than do a longer hike at Calero I would head back to the Mockingbird Hill entrance to Almaden Quicksilver Park and visit my favorite flower-filled canyon near the parking lot.

Today I arrived at Castle Rock State Park before the gate was open. I wandered on out to a bit past Goat Rock, enjoying the spring flowers and the still-green conditions… along with warm weather that felt more like summer than spring.

April 19, 2009 - Posted by gdanmitchell | Commentary