When I started blogging 6 years ago, I never would have imagined putting a picture like that up. What will be on your blog in 6 years? Anyway, I have two more weeks of school, two homework assignments, one quiz, and a final exam, and I'm done. That all seems pro forma now with the exams behind me.
I went for a hike.
Purisima Creek. We've been here many times. Just a few pics.
When you visit, be sure to bear right immediately after the trailhead. Otherwise it's a steep descent and you miss the haunted forest.
And dress in layers. I have never been here when it was not cold, wet, and blustery on the trailhead but warm, dry, and still a mile down the trail.
To commemorate the occasion, I did go a little farther than I ever have. Specifically, I've never hiked that ridge before. The trail is supposed to dead end at someone's private property a mile or so down the road, so I've never bothered to explore.
Ceanothus in Seattle were still going when I was there last weekend. They are kaput in San Francisco, but here are some in the final phase.
A lot of this too. A paintbrush?
Cow Parsnip (Heracleum lanatum), a personal favorite.
Lovely lupines.
I poached a half-dozen Phacelia californica seeds here a couple years ago. They made vigorous plants in my garden! I will show them to you.
The P. californica is grayer in leaf and paler in bloom than the more commonly grown scorpion weed, Phacelia tanacetifolia.
You would not believe how some native plant enthusiasts will go on about our coastal Fragaria. Don't get me started.
It was around this bend when I came to the end for this trip.
You can't tell from this picture that the trail here is a steep, loose rock descent. I'd already gone a good mile past where I thought the trail would end, so I was not prepared to go any further. Because you have to climb back up that shit. Not today. I turned around, slapped my ass, and said giddy up.
TThe fog lifted at the end, and I could see the ocean.
9 comments:
Congratulations! Nice celebratory hike.
Congratulations on passing the exams and becoming a master statistician. A walk in the woods is a good way to get all those numbers out of your head.
Congratulations on passing your Masters exams - a successful end to all that hard work.
Congratulations on the Masters degree.
Those strawberries look tasty. I like the plants too, but I've never extolled their virtues. More exciting is the Lupine. Who is such a Fragaria proponent?
Congratulations Chuck! I loved the woods-walk and your last line "The fog lifted at the end, and I could see the ocean." Oceans of good luck to you!
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Congratulations!And thanks for the short (and long) walks you take us on. Hopefully there will be more now that your hours of study have relaxed.
Congrats, Chuck! That's awesome! Need more info on the fragaria groupies...because that shit is just too good to not know. What will my blog say in 6 years? Pretty sure it won't have a photo of my Master's...just sayin'
Congratulations Chuck, and also thanks for the laugh out loud over your description of getting back up the trail! Your writing is very amusing.
Congratulations! That hike looks so inviting, especially the ridge area. It looks as though you're really out in the wilderness.
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