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Our hike in Sunol Park was gentle, under threatening skies - perfect temperature for hiking.

We followed the trail along the creek to the falls and water hole with this distinctive blue stone.

Trees, just leafing out, march down the center of the stream bed, inundated by the ample rains.

Gnarled stream-side dwellers.

Below is the road where our hike began.

A stream meanders across the meadow.

This fallen tree is still rooted and beginning to leaf out.

Tiny wildflowers at the trail edge.

Clusters of “butter and eggs”.

A meadow full of buttercups and one owl’s clover blossom.

A butterfly in the buttercups.

A blue bird surveys the meadow from the top of his home. A telephoto lens would reveal his orange belly and blue back feathers.

After our Los Trancos hike, we visited Yerba Buena Nursery, just off Skyline Boulevard in Woodside. The friendly fellow above is Charlie, who presides over nursery operations, greets guests, and hobnobs with the resident cats.

The nursery sells a remarkable collection of California native plants, like this yellow flowered fremontia,

this ribes sanguineum “Claremont”, a wild currant,

this ceanothus,

and this native western hawthorne (crataegus douglasii), still harboring last fall’s colors.

The nursery has expanded its inventory since we last visited, and appears to be doing well with the new trend toward xeriscapes and natural gardens.

Yes, I succumbed to temptation - we came home with a white St. Catherine’s lace buckwheat, a matilija poppy, a native Dutchman’s pipe, wild ginger, and a white thalictrum - always room for one more fabulous plant!

Today, our hikers took to the trails of Los Trancos Preserve, with reports of mountain lion sitings. The predators eluded us, but the views over the coastal range were spectacular, and some of the wildflowers were blooming. In shady spots there were thick stands of miner’s lettuce, pictured above.

There were a few trillium,

some buttercups,

many red warriors,

white-flowered currants,

fragrant white wild lilac,

blue ceanothus,

blooming hound’s tongue,

shooting stars,

and this dainty little chickweed.

Leaves of cow parsnip were unfurling in damp, sunny areas,

and banana slugs were resting in moist, shady edges of the trail.

All the precursors of spring made today’s hike rewarding, despite the challenges of hilly terrain.

We traveled about 45 minutes to this historic mercury mining area to view the old mine sites, and the valleys below from challenging but well maintained trails - lots of ups and downs.

Guadalupe Reservoir, above, is low after three years of drought. The new grass needs the rain predicted for tomorrow, to sustain its growth.

The rock in this area contains cinnabar, the ore from which mercury is extracted.

Some of the structures involved with the mining processes are still standing, but off limits in their currently dilapidated state. They are infested with rodents that carry the potentially deadly hantavirus.

And speaking of deadly, above is the old cemetery where miners and their families are buried. Not a single headstone was in view, but the picket fence and rows of ancient evergreens remain to mark the graveyard.

In the far distance is Cupertino and Silicon Valley.

Mt. Umunhum, which means “resting place of the hummngbird” in the Ohlone Indian tongue, is visible in the distance, a part of the Sierra Azul Open Space. It is topped by a weather station, but was formerly an early warning radar site.

As we approach the parking lot at the end of the hike, we see the warning signs for the predators that are an important part of this ecosystem. So far, our only siting of a cougar has been the kitten that crossed the road in front of our car near Pescadero, last year at this time. We have seen bobcats, which are not quite as shy.

The rain did not materialize on our hike through the trails at Portola Valley Ranch. We started on the Toyon Trail, hiking to the end. We ate lunch between two ponds, one fresh and blue, barely visible from the trail. The other was murky and green, good frog habitat, but not appealing.

Toyon berries are ripening along the trails.

Larry swings out, over the ravine.

This large mushroom is the first we have seen in the woods this year.

Spanish moss on the Old Spanish Trail.

A view from Old Spanish Trail, back towards the summit of the coastal range.

San Francisco Bay, viewed across Portola Valley, from the Old Spanish Trail.

Our Middle Group taking a water break on a bridge.

The hike today took us to the eastern foothills of Silicon Valley, to the oldest municipal park in California, Alum Rock Park.

Nature has caused some changes to the park in recent years. In 2000, severe storms caused a landslide, resulting in the closure of the original Alum Rock Avenue entrance. Then in 2007, a 5.6 earthquake, with an epicenter just five miles from the park, at the convergence of the Hayward and Calaveras faults, caused a dried up spring to begin running once again.

As we entered the park, old railroad supports and other structures made of stone were visible alongside the road.

Our trail starts at this old stone bridge.

There was a surprising amount of water and fish in Penitencia Creek, for the beginning of the rainy season.

View from the summit, across the valley, overlooking a buckeye tree growing orange lichens.

Shaded areas are very wet and green after recent heavy rains.

A magical hollow stump, potential home for forest creatures.

The leafless buckeyes are covered with mature nuts.

Fall color was limited to the yellow big leaf maples, and the red poison oak.

Native sycamores flourish along the stream. The bark is blotched with grey and white.

A newly opened trail system criss-crosses the steep terrain across the valley. New grasses are just emerging through the brown remnants of last years grass crop.

Fall colors were a little more diluted than usual this year in New York State, following a wet and relatively cold summer in the Northeast.

Fall foliage near Treadwell, New York.

Pumpkins for sale at Pie In The Sky barn, Otsego, New York.

Our first fall hike was a steep walk on a snowmobile trail in Otego. Here is the group on top of the hill, ready for a well-earned picnic lunch.

Our second hike started at this juncture, providing another steep walk.

This time we had a guide who knew the history of the area. At the end of the trail we piled into our cars and headed for lunch at the home of a local family.

The sun did come out for our trip to Cooperstown during Brenda’s visit. Otsego Lake was at its best, viewed from the Fenimore Art Museum, currently showing the iconic photographs of Walker Evans, from the 1930’s.

Photo on exhibit at the Fenimore Art Museum.

We lunched at the Hawk Eye Bar and Grill, at the Otesaga Hotel on Otsego Lake in Cooperstown.

After lunch, we walked through the hotel grounds, adjacent to the Cooperstown golf course. We continued down the road to visit the Farmers’ Museum, where a village has been constructed with period buildings manned by reinactors. Representative farm animals are kept for demonstrations for visitors.

Entrance to the museum.

A reconstructed building in the museum village.

The village lane.

Actors preparing a meal in the farmhouse kitchen.

The farm house kitchen window.

Cosmos in the garden.

Tom turkey awaits his fate, in a pen fashioned by twigs.

Brenda is a great second grandma! The three photos that follow are hers.

Window reflections in the village of Franklin, New York.

The Episcopal Church in Franklin, New York.

Fields and forest outside the Village of Franklin, New York.

Flowers from Rose Cottage garden.

Tea on the porch.

Froglets from the pond at Rose Cottage.

Edible gardens of Silicon Valley.

Sunflowers and poppies.

The Butterfly Forest.

Here are some macro shots taken at the Joseph L. Popp, Jr. butterfly conservatory in Upstate New York.

Said to be one of the world’s largest moth species.

An exotic walking stick.

Tiny tree frog observing the butterflies from his leaf.

An insect-eating pitcher plant.

The chameleon’s tail has just turned yellow.

Chameleon in green.

A tattered butterfly.

Drinking nectar at the feeder.

A mating pair.

Mourning coat.

Green on green.