Rancho San Antonio May 14 2008

Meeting in the parking lot at a school about .6 miles from Rancho San Antonio. Jack, Karin, Barbara, Max, Paula, William

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:03:15 -0700

elf1
Meeting in the parking lot at a school about .6 miles from Rancho San Antonio. Jack, Karin, Barbara, Max, Paula, William

Meeting in the parking lot at a school about .6 miles from Rancho San Antonio. Jack, David, Karin, Barbara, William, Paula, Max

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:59:49 -0700

elf1
Meeting in the parking lot at a school about .6 miles from Rancho San Antonio. Jack, David, Karin, Barbara, William, Paula, Max

Karin ready to go with camera.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:31 -0700

elf1
Karin ready to go with camera.

Lower Meadow Trail. Temperature had climbed into the 90s earlier today but by 7:00 it was cooling somewhat and being outside and on such nice trails was a delight.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:03:37 -0700

elf1
Lower Meadow Trail. Temperature had climbed into the 90s earlier today but by 7:00 it was cooling somewhat and being outside and on such nice trails was a delight.

David and Karin. Posing? Who, us?

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:01:50 -0700

elf1
David and Karin. Posing? Who, us?

On very few sections, we walked on actual paved roadway.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:23 -0700

elf1
On very few sections, we walked on actual paved roadway.

Trail sign with leaf-strewn trail.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:02:27 -0700

elf1
Trail sign with leaf-strewn trail.

I love grape-stake fencing.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:06:38 -0700

elf1
I love grape-stake fencing.

Wild roses.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 14:38:16 -0700

elf1
Wild roses.

Stump plus trail. Looked like a great photo op in real life but the photo is kind of flat.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:06:23 -0700

elf1
Stump plus trail. Looked like a great photo op in real life but the photo is kind of flat.

Stump plus trail turned out better with David in the photo. Maybe he should hire himself out as a model. He had a good time posing in many of Karin's photos.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:03:52 -0700

elf1
Stump plus trail turned out better with David in the photo. Maybe he should hire himself out as a model. He had a good time posing in many of Karin's photos.

Most of the hike, I saw only the back sides of the other hikers. The price for stopping to snap photos. But here, the trail doubled back on itself. (Karin, Jack, Barbara, ?, ?, Brian, Paula ...

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:59:06 -0700

elf1
Most of the hike, I saw only the back sides of the other hikers. The price for stopping to snap photos. But here, the trail doubled back on itself. (Karin, Jack, Barbara, ?, ?, Brian, Paula ...

The person with the camera is noticed. What a cheery friendly group! Oh, yeah, that's my group! (Karin taking a photo as usual, Barbara, Brian, Max, Paula, ?, William)

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:12 -0700

elf1
The person with the camera is noticed. What a cheery friendly group! Oh, yeah, that's my group! (Karin taking a photo as usual, Barbara, Brian, Max, Paula, ?, William)

More rare front sides of hikers. Barbara, Brian, Max, Paula.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:01:23 -0700

elf1
More rare front sides of hikers. Barbara, Brian, Max, Paula.

Up the hill on the Mora Trail to the water tower. That was a long haul up, and I was carrying 4 liters of water plus some extra clothes and shoes in my new pack to be sure it would work for ...

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:14 -0700

elf1
Up the hill on the Mora Trail to the water tower. That was a long haul up, and I was carrying 4 liters of water plus some extra clothes and shoes in my new pack to be sure it would work for ...

This is my usual view. Nice scenery, plus inverse sides of hiking group.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:08 -0700

elf1
This is my usual view. Nice scenery, plus inverse sides of hiking group.

STILL going up that hill. But the views were good.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:07:18 -0700

elf1
STILL going up that hill. But the views were good.

Even halfway up the hill, the views out across Silicon Valley were getting pretty spiffy. Paula and I take a brief breather. Thanks, Paula!

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:06:58 -0700

elf1
Even halfway up the hill, the views out across Silicon Valley were getting pretty spiffy. Paula and I take a brief breather. Thanks, Paula!

Another shot from most of the way up the hill.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:07:08 -0700

elf1
Another shot from most of the way up the hill.

Karin at the top, I think.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:07:29 -0700

elf1
Karin at the top, I think.

Karin again. So many photos because my last set of her weren't so hot (blurry, too dark, etc.).

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:06:06 -0700

elf1
Karin again. So many photos because my last set of her weren't so hot (blurry, too dark, etc.).

View from the water tower hill, looking across the blimp hangers at Moffet Field on to San Francisco Bay.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:59:38 -0700

elf1
View from the water tower hill, looking across the blimp hangers at Moffet Field on to San Francisco Bay.

Wild turkeys, with the tom strutting his stuff for his womenfolk. I just couldn't get close enough with this camera--they were way out there.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:51 -0700

elf1
Wild turkeys, with the tom strutting his stuff for his womenfolk. I just couldn't get close enough with this camera--they were way out there.

Same photo, cropped. Aw, now it's blurring.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:00:00 -0700

elf1
Same photo, cropped. Aw, now it's blurring.

Mr. Tom never did turn all the way towards me. I think he thought I wasn't cute enough.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:03:26 -0700

elf1
Mr. Tom never did turn all the way towards me. I think he thought I wasn't cute enough.

Lovely view and trail continuing down the far side of the water tower hill.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:03:05 -0700

elf1
Lovely view and trail continuing down the far side of the water tower hill.

Karin, blurry again. Maybe it's just her!

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:01:01 -0700

elf1
Karin, blurry again. Maybe it's just her!

Karin after taking photos. Both of us lagged as we snapped lots of photos. She shot most of the flowers we saw; I didn't bother in this light with this camera.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:55 -0700

elf1
Karin after taking photos. Both of us lagged as we snapped lots of photos. She shot most of the flowers we saw; I didn't bother in this light with this camera.

Our next trail junction.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:02:54 -0700

elf1
Our next trail junction.

Guess who, again.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:58:44 -0700

elf1
Guess who, again.

The sunset was getting lovely, but it was hard to get a shot with the landscape and the lovely sky colors. So I took one shot focused on the landscape to get its exposure ok, and another sho ...

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:19 -0700

elf1
The sunset was getting lovely, but it was hard to get a shot with the landscape and the lovely sky colors. So I took one shot focused on the landscape to get its exposure ok, and another sho ...

Then combined them in photoshop! It's a little spooky looking, but interesting.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:01:38 -0700

elf1
Then combined them in photoshop! It's a little spooky looking, but interesting.

Here's the shot focused on the sky, and the flash went off to light up the foreground vegetation. Actually this isn't a terrible shot by itself.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:06:48 -0700

elf1
Here's the shot focused on the sky, and the flash went off to light up the foreground vegetation. Actually this isn't a terrible shot by itself.

Karin and I near the top of the Vista Point hill, which I think is about 500 feet up using about 6,000 switchbacks. I give up on taking photos most of the way up the hill, I'm so far behind.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:03 -0700

elf1
Karin and I near the top of the Vista Point hill, which I think is about 500 feet up using about 6,000 switchbacks. I give up on taking photos most of the way up the hill, I'm so far behind.

The group at the top, enjoying the view. (Jack, max, barbara, David, William, Brian)

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:58:55 -0700

elf1
The group at the top, enjoying the view. (Jack, max, barbara, David, William, Brian)

Same group, same top of hill. While I'm up here, I dump most of my 2-liter bottle of water (some over my head--felt good in the heat even at 8:00).

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:26 -0700

elf1
Same group, same top of hill. While I'm up here, I dump most of my 2-liter bottle of water (some over my head--felt good in the heat even at 8:00).

Picking out things in the distance. Brian, William, Barbara, Jack.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:47 -0700

elf1
Picking out things in the distance. Brian, William, Barbara, Jack.

Brian, William, Barbara, Jack.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 04:59:17 -0700

elf1
Brian, William, Barbara, Jack.

Brian, William, Barbara, Jack, Max.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:02:12 -0700

elf1
Brian, William, Barbara, Jack, Max.

Brian, William, Barbara, Jack, Max. Barbara, ever the intrepid leader, is determined to get us out of the park by half an hour after sunset--8:41. Eventually, we cross the border at 8:38.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:05:41 -0700

elf1
Brian, William, Barbara, Jack, Max. Barbara, ever the intrepid leader, is determined to get us out of the park by half an hour after sunset--8:41. Eventually, we cross the border at 8:38.

Karin pretending to take a picture so I can take a picture of her taking a picture.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:58 -0700

elf1
Karin pretending to take a picture so I can take a picture of her taking a picture.

Gorgeous sunset over the barn near the end of our hike.

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:02:01 -0700

elf1
Gorgeous sunset over the barn near the end of our hike.

Just stunning colors, almost too deep and vivid to be believable. Thanks, whoever scheduled these colors for us!

nobody@smugmug.com (elf1) — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:04:36 -0700

elf1
Just stunning colors, almost too deep and vivid to be believable. Thanks, whoever scheduled these colors for us!