Tenaya Trail Hike

Yesterday, we drove northeast to the Cleaveland National Forest to hike a 10.4 mile out and back through rugged terrain.

 We saw a couple California Newts in the morning coolness.

 There is a lot of wild cucumber this year.  When the fruit dry and open up, they can look rather ghoulish, especially with a spider shacking up inside.

 We saw very few people for a Sunday, possibly due to a lot of poison oak intruding on the trail, gnats swarming in your face much of the time, and rattlesnakes.  A good hike, nevertheless!

 This is what the terrain looks like.  There is a ribbon of green along the creeks, and normally, there would be running streams, but not during this drought.

 There were a few pools, however, and we heard a bullfrog and saw a duck take off at this one.

 We did some rock hopping down the creek.

 There were some wildflowers, including these daisies.

 Gail spotted this large alligator lizard.

 And this blue-belly lizard posed nicely for me.

 This butterfly was actually bright yellow, but washed out in the photo.

 I spotted this Speckled Rattlesnake on the trail.  It was funny because ten minutes earlier I was telling Gail about Speckled Rattlesnakes, how they are variable in color and harmonize with the environment.  For that reason, they are very camouflaged and one should be careful when reaching for litter or walking off trail. They are also nervous snakes and prone to hold their ground if annoyed. I told her how I had never seen one, then a few minutes later, there it was!

 You can see how this fella blends in.  It gave us a good warning buzz, and moved off the trail a few feet.

A California Sister butterly wraps up this post.  It's Monday morning and we're not itching - so far so good!