work in progress: May 15, 2008

So today it was my family's turn to get there a whole hour late. These things happen. Despite the late start, we decided to hike on up to Alpine Pond, since this has been on my list of Things To Do ever since we started coming to Skyline Ridge.

At first the trail went up gently, alternating through sunny grass meadows and green shady woodlands. We saw lots of flowers. Then we came to a crossroads -- which way to go? Both went to the pond. We chose the path that continued along the hillside, leading to some beautiful views out all the way to ocean.

We stopped for a while by a very cool rock to have some snacks, do some sketching, and even make a few blow pipes out of grass stems. Then we carried on to Alpine Pond, where the Daniels Nature Center is.

That is one wonderful pond. It has its share of tule growing along the banks, with lots and lots of red-winged blackbirds singing their hearts out.

I love their song. We saw fish in the water, the kids played some wierd game that involves throwing pine cones at each other, we ate lunch, we gabbed. It was great.

Then we had kind of a dodgy hike back, since there was a longer uphill than anyone had really bargained for and the younger kids were feeling a somewhat sick of walking. Still we made it to the summit of our trail, and started back down, back through the meadows and the woods till we made it to the parking lot.

I tried a new drive home but it didn't work very well, and I still haven't figured out how whether there's a good way to get to 17 from Skyline Boulevard or not. Where the hell does Summit Road go east of 17 anyway? Shouldn't they meet up?

I'll have to try another route next time. Scroll down for pictures of flowers.

Native Sunflowers