On Monday we went on a hike with my brother and sister-in-law. I think it was actually a walk because the trail followed the edge of the lake fairly closely. Doesn’t a hike involved dramatic changes in elevation or at least some level of difficulty? Regardless, it was a beautiful day while the annual growth is still green and not all the trees have fully leafed out. (Is that a word?)
We drove to the north end of Lake Berryessa and stopped at the trail head.
My brother has been here several times and expects to find ospreys and eagles. We saw ospreys in the air on the way here and found another not long after starting on the trail.
This is a view of the landscape and the lake. There is an osprey in this photo also, but you have to look hard to see it.
Here is the osprey, right in the middle of that other photo. Notice there are two here. One is below the nest.
Another view across the lake. What a beautiful site for a ranch headquarters.
I have always taken more photos of plants than birds. Plants sit still longer and I can get closer.
Here is a magnificent oak tree.
The oak woodland landscape.
We noticed several trees with holes in the bark. Can you tell what is in the holes?
The holes are filled with acorns.
The acorn woodpecker is responsible for this. Wikipedia has this to say about this behavior: Acorns are stored in small holes drilled especially for this purpose in “granaries” or “storage trees”—usually snags, dead branches, utility poles, or wooden buildings. Storage holes—always in dead tissue such as bark or dead limbs—are used year after year, and granaries can consist of thousands of holes, each of which may be filled by an acorn in the autumn.
This turkey vulture wasn’t about to leave his meal, although three others did fly off as we walked by.
Can you spot the bird here?
This one is a bald eagle.
We walked about as far as La Pointe (on the map at the top) and turned around because we all had visitors coming for dinner. On the way back we saw the same osprey pair.
This is Dan, me, Kathy, and Dave thoroughly enjoying the day.
Our first waterfall on the trail, and before getting to the park, was Murhut Falls on the Duckabush River.
I first wondered about the name of the river. You have to duck under bushes if you don’t have a ready made trail? No, in a side trip to Google I found that it is an Indian word meaning red face, referring to reddish bluffs in the area. 
As we found in all our wanderings in this area, the forest is dense, damp, and spectacular.
A wildlife shot along the way. So far the only wildlife I was photographing was slow moving.
About 3/4 mile up the trail we found the falls.
The waterfall trail guide says that this one is 120 feet with another 35 feet below this point. Photos don’t do any of the forest scenery justice.
Weather continued to be damp and misty but not much real rain.
You can certainly tell that this is a wet climate as opposed to most of the places we find ourselves hiking and camping.
The forest was stunning. The trees were massive.
Vegetation is dense.
There were lots of trees down throughout this part of the forest, but it doesn’t take long before ferns and herbaceous plants are growing on the downed trees and the forest covers them over.
This plant with huge (up to 15″) leaves was everywhere in the understory (see the three photos above). It is called Devils Club (Oplopanax horridus) and is endemic to dense, moist, old-growth forests of the Pacific Northwest. It has a long list of uses by Native Americans from medicinals to face paint and is covered with irritating spines.
Dwarf Dogwood, Cornus candensis.
I didn’t even try to identify fungi, but took photos because I like to share these with a friend who dyes with mushrooms.
We walked until we reached the creek and were undecided how far the trail continued. But it was getting to be dusk and we decided that we’d better turn back.
This forest would be pretty dark when the sun was down.
Fortunately it was warm enough with sleeping bag on top of my thick sheepskin. (Maybe it wasn’t that warm, seeing that I’m wearing my wool beanie and a sweatshirt.) 
Oh, I have a wool blanket with me too (handspun Jacob by the way). This is the view out from my sleeping bag.
Falling trees, high heat, fires, snakes, poison oak, ticks, mountain lions, high water (that would be a different season). Maybe we should just go back home to the couch. 
After the 2015 fire the area was rebuilt to accommodate needed parking. Now we park below the Reserve instead of on the side of the road and walk under the road through these huge culverts. This is also where storm water will go in the winter. What’s with the graffiti? I am not a fan.
Leaving the culvert.
We headed out on the Blue Ridge trail, a five mile round trip. This is three years after the fire. That bush on the right is a CA Bay Laurel growing from the base of the burned tree (it can take on the form of a bush or tree).
Our first hazard, poison oak.
Maybe the next time I go hiking here I’ll count the steps. The trail starts in the canyon and eventually you have to get to the top of the ridge. There may be a million stairs–at least it seems that way when you are half way up. 
Taking scenic photos is a good excuse to stop. This is a panorama looking southeast. 
Our trail continued to the ridgeline. This is the bluest sky that I’ve seen since the fires started in June. We’re up above the smoke and haze here. 
View to the east. That little line on the ridge is our trail.
From the top you can look down to Lake Berryessa. Except for the foreground most of the land was burned this summer.
More of the trail. Keep walking.
California Cudweed.
Toyon berries.
Burned oak.
Fall colors (more poison oak).
I got them situated near the other Jacob sheep and hung my newly made sign (that includes my location). I delivered my entries in the fiber and photo contests (a whole suitcase full–it’s a good thing that Southwest allows two free bags). Then I went exploring.
This was a pretty area. It was “mixed use” including developed playground and lawn areas, but I stuck to the trails. I was not dressed for the weather. According to the news it was 90 degrees on this day and we haven’t been that hot at home yet. Too bad I hadn’t brought shorts…although the ticks that I found later made me think that maybe jeans were better anyway.
Dogwood. That’s one flower that I knew.
More of the trail.
No one knows for sure why this place is called Soldiers Delight but the purpose for preserving it is the unique geology and ecosystem. 
From Wikipedia: “The site is designated both a Maryland Wildland (1,526 acres) and a Natural Environmental Area(1,900 acres) … The site’s protected status is due to the presence of serpentine soil and over 39 rare, threatened, or endangered plant species along with rare insects, rocks and minerals.”
“Weathered serpentinite is dissolved rock, transformed into thin, sand and clay poor soil which is easily eroded. This creates a land surface which is stony, unfertile and sparsely vegetated and is the reason that the term “serpentine barren” is used to describe these areas.
Signs explained that “the serpentine grasslands and oak savanna systems are now imperiled due mainly to the lack of American Indian and lightning fires which are critical to this fire-dependent ecosystem…The oak savanna ecosystem is one of the rarest communities in Maryland.” Over 90% of the less than 1000 remaining acres lies within Soldier’s Delight NEA.
Praire warbler.
I hiked the 2-1/2 mile trail around the grassland area and came back up to the main road. I decided to take another trail that went to the chromite mines. Half way through this one I started to think that maybe I should have brought water…and food. I realized how hungry and thirsty I was. It was already about 3:30. Did I say that it was very hot? I started to have visions of having to be rescued. Or not–how would anyone know where I was? I also found a tick on my hand. Then I started to feel like there must be ticks everywhere. Forget those mind games. I was still enjoying the new landscapes.
I happened to look up and saw this.
Here is a closer view.
Along the way I found the Choate mine that operated from 1818 to 1888 and for a brief period during WWI. I had expected something bigger when I read the sign pointing to a pit mine (picture the massive mines I’ve seen in the west). It’s hard to imagine that it was a few holes like this produced the world’s supply of chromium.
This is one of the other mines. I did make it back to civilization without mishap (and only one other tick).
This is the area where we camped. I got up when I saw the sunrise to explore near the river. We had heard rapids but couldn’t see the river from the campground. 
After all the signs at the previous day’s stops I did start thinking about mountain lions as I walked along deer trails though those willows and brush to reach the river. So I made plenty of noise, but I also decided to move to higher ground where there was no cover. 
I was also glad when Matt showed up with the same idea (early morning photography) in mind.
Logs and rocks in the river were enough to create the sound of rapids that we heard from camp.
This is the view back to the camping area. That green speck in the middle is the truck.
We looked at the map to see where we might hike in this park and found Closed Canyon.
This is a canyon that leads to the Rio Grande.
Absolutely stunning! The photos don’t do it justice.
You can walk in about 7/10 of a mile before you can’t go farther.
If you’re a mountain goat you can try to go farther … or if you want to get wet.
Matt went around the bend and came back. The map shows that it is a relatively short way to the river.
You wouldn’t want to walk here in the flash flood season.
That slot in the shadow is the entrance to this incredible canyon.
On the road again.
The next stop was the HooDoos Trail.
Hoodoos refers to these eroded formations.
Matt showed me how to do photos with my camera that you can later turn into panoramas. This isn’t distorted like the pano shots on the phone.
More spikey things.
We left the park and were on our way to El Paso where we would spend the night and Matt and I would take an early flight home the next morning.
We entered the town of Marfa and Matt found on Trip Advisor that visitors could check out the dome of the city hall.
That was a good excuse to get out of the truck and stretch. This small West Texas town may be worth a second visit someday to investigate it’s art venues and to find out more about the Marfa Lights (google that).
Entering El Paso.
Flying over southern California where the fires were (are) still burning.
The Robert Louis Stevenson State Park to the north of the highway is closed but the Table Rock trail is south of the highway.
The trail starts out in groves of oak, madrone, and bay trees. This area was damp from recent rain and the trees looked as though they were covered with green fur.
A new kind of 
Making things larger than life through the lens.
As the trail descended the other side of the first ridge the vegetation seemed more typical of California chaparral. These are the seeds of the California Buckeye.
The California buckeye is one of the first deciduous trees to leaf out in the spring, but it also goes dormant and loses it’s leaves in late summer. Although the “nuts” may seem similar to chestnuts, these are toxic.
The trail leads to the western end of a formation called the Palisades, volcanic rock that towers over the northern end of the Napa Valley.
That is the town of Calistoga down below. 
We sat on the rocks known as Table Rock for quite awhile, soaking up the sun and watching birds and the beautiful sky. The fire missed this area, but not Mt. St. Helena in the background and the lower area along the highway.
As we sat on the rocks Dan noticed a Cal Fire plane flying around Mt. St. Helena and then saw it drop something–we wonder of that is seed to help stabilize the burned landscape.
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