The Trail

Over Thanksgiving I had the week off from both my jobs and since the weather was nice I took the opportunity to hike up into Annadel again. This is one of my favorite places in our county. In the summer it is very hot, but as soon as it cools down a bit it is a wonderful wild place to spend time in.

For quite some time I had this idea in my head that I wanted to take pictures of Rough Go Trail by just using my phone. Now finally the time had come to turn this idea into reality (I'm afraid this is a photo-heavy post).

The trail that leads to Rough Go starts near the lake and is nice and mellow with relatively smooth going, the only obstacle in your way being a coyote brush.

Looking back already offers a beautiful view of the Mayacamas Mountains.

Then we hit the Rough Go Trail and the going gets... well, rough. There is a reason why the trail has its name. The first part is still in the shade which is the only shady section of the trail.

Then the trail gets rougher while climbing up.

Turning back you can see the scars of the October 2017 fires - those are some of the mountains where the fire roared over in the night of October 8th, 2017.

The trail climbs steadily among the boulders and rocks - another reason why I avoid this trail in the heat of the summer since the rattlers love to hang out here. While I think they're still more afraid of me than vice versa I do prefer to see them from a safe distance.

The views across my town toward the Coastal Range are stunning. I'm always amazed how many trees there are. Hard to believe that this is a city of 160,000.

But we still have a bit of a climb to do, so let's move on.

 

This is the end of the first climb - this lovely bench on the ridge.

I love to sit here under the old trees, watching the turkey vultures circling above me. Sometimes deer walk by. About ten to fifteen years ago or so while I was sitting on this bench enjoying the view a woman had climbed up the same trail and was approaching the bench a bit hesitantly. After I had told her that there is certainly space for both of us she sat beside me and we started a conversation. I immediately loved her English accent, and we talked for a long time. At the end we exchanged phone numbers and we became hiking buddies for many years.

It's also a great place for contemplating and writing in my journal.

From here you can still hike much further, there are many trails in Annadel. But I chose to go back, walk down Rough Go. It looks different on the way back.

After all these years I still love this trail. It never gets boring, there is always something new to see. One time I saw a bobcat, another day a coyote further up the mountain. Once a jackrabbit was hopping on the trail and even posing for the camera! I often saw mountain lion scat and once I even turned around on a more remote trail because I suddenly felt my hair standing up. I was pretty sure there was a cougar nearby and I didn't want to take any chances. That never happened on Rough Go, but I'm always vigilant. This is the wilderness after all.

Protecting Wilderness

For this week's Good Fences I have "outside the box" fences again. I noticed them while hiking in my favorite state park that is practically at my doorstep.

We have a great network of beautiful trails through the wilderness of the park. These trails are used by hikers, runners, horse riders and mountain bikers. It shouldn't be too difficult to stay on these trails.

At least one would think so.

Unfortunately there are people who feel some kind of weird entitlement that allows them to go in the park wherever they want - actually, it's mostly "bike wherever they want" - and thus creating new trails where they shouldn't be, disrupting the wilderness and disturbing wildlife.

In the following picture you can see one of those illegal trails leading from the center to the right side of the image.

You can see the deep mark it has left in the park. There's a clear sign that you shouldn't use this trail.

But obviously the park is visited by many illiterate people, so the rangers tried a different method - natural "fences".

A huge branch blocks this trail, and from the look of it, it seems to work.

Here's another one - the branch was laid out quite some time ago. You almost can't see the trail anymore, the branch has deteriorated - this has been successful, it seems.

Here mountain bikers have taken a questionable short cut beside the trail, probably because it's less rocky. By the way the branches and big rocks are laid across the trail I got the impression that the rangers were pretty mad when they blocked this part. I honestly cannot blame them.

I've been here so often, but only recently did I notice this rock wall. I have no idea what the purpose of it is except that it's probably home to a few rattlesnakes.

This is such a beautiful place, and it truly makes me mad that some people don't respect the wilderness and create new trails. I don't understand why they aren't able to stay on the trails that are already there.

I'm linking up to Theresa's Good Fences.

Meandering Lilies

Last Saturday when I visited Olompali State Park, the first thing I noticed before even entering the parking lot were the beautiful trees and the Calla Lilies that grow here in abundance.

They follow the creek that you can only hear but not see. It's lovely how they meander through the meadow and past the trees.

Processed with Kim's texture "kk_evolve2"

There were many lovely spots that showed the wilderness of this place and where the Calla Lilies emerged.

I'm usually not a big fan of Calla Lilies, but here in this park, at this creek I loved them. They were perfect and belonged here.

I'm linking up with Kim's Texture Tuesday.

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Cattails are wonderful plants we find in nature as well,

often in wild places next to a lake or river.

They make beautiful photo cards, available in my Etsy store.

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