Today was mostly cloudy but the sun was out when I left the ranch, so figured we had time for a little ride. There was a slight chance of showers predicted. However, when we got up to the ridge on the Pine Trail, it was pretty clear that the showers were already coming over Empire Grade.
After a quick call to Michael to check doppler radar, decided to squeeze in a little longer ride under the tree canopy anyway.
I think this was our first ride on a cloudy day, and with no sunlight, the woods were pretty dark.
This is the Eagle Creek Trail, my favorite in the park
A redwood that was falling over got caught by its sisters
The ferns at the base of these redwoods are dying as summer ends
Took Eagle Creek down to Pipeline, and then continued up Rincon to the Ridge Trail
The Ridge trail took us up to the observation deck. Hey, what happened to the mountains across the canyon? It's starting to mist as rain moves in.
That's Monterey Bay at the bottom of the "V" and you can watch the storm move onshore from here
This is Empire Grade looking northwest - the showers are still west of the ridge, just off the coast, so it's not raining at home yet.
The scenery is disappearing! Better not tarry too long here. We don't want to go down Graham Hill Road's big steep curvy hill when it is wet for the first time in months! I've slid on that road in the past and sure don't want to do that with the horse trailer behind me!
Bella was happy to oblige a quick trip back. In 15 minutes we're at the creek crossing on Powder Mill trail.
Those white dots in this photo are faeries
Creek's pool (left)
Deep canyon creek crossing.