Santa Teresa

That’s two weekends in a row now that we’ve had beautiful Monday weather after a wet and overcast weekend. The reports for this week are now for an offshore flow bringing 80 degree temperatures on Wednesday and Thursday, with clouds returning on Friday, followed by another chance of rain on Saturday. I always think its funny when people I know at work talk about how they get depressed when they look out the window and see a lot of gloomy weather. I’m the opposite. I get depressed when I look outside and see fantastic weather, but I realize I’ll be stuck inside the whole day, flooded by anesthetizing fluorescent lighting, confined by over-institutionalized labs and dehumanizing cubicles, and choked by an institutional air system that virtually ensures everyone will get exposed to every possible microbe known to man. Sure, I can take some consolation by reminding myself that I am probably lucky to even have a job at all in this economy. Sometimes it seems like those of us who still have jobs are working four times harder than we ever did back in the roaring 90s when 401Ks were actually earning. But this is way too much digression for a hiking blog. What I really meant to say was that when I do get the chance, heading outside always seems like the best option.

Sue and I decided to stay close to home last Saturday, so we went to Santa Teresa County Park for another wet hike. The forecast was for rain all day, but this was our window so we prepared for a wet hike and hit the trail. Santa Teresa is pretty, even though trappings of the surrounding city life are all around. Many of the views are nice, but are obstructed by housing, an IBM research facility, power lines, radio towers, Bernal Road running right through the center of the park, and paved parking areas potentially full with people. But we had a nice time, and despite the rain, there were some wild flowers coming out. I was especially taken by the displays of Tidy Tips along the Fortini Trail. I did not bother with GPS, but I went back later to get a few photos, and decided to share a few of them. The displays are not spectacular yet, but this is a nice precursor. If the sun had been out we probably would have seen a lot more.

Tidy-tips, Layia chrysanthemoides

Tidy-tips, Layia chrysanthemoides

  

Tidy-tips, Layia chrysanthemoides

California Buttercups; Ranunculus californicus

Goldfields; Lasthenia burkei

Fiddlenecks; Amsinckia eastwoodiae