Hiking From West to East (Bolinas Ridge, May 26)

(Neither Dick Jordan Theresa Fisher were on this hike, but Dick has put together this "recap" based on photos from Stan Walker and Wendy's "What Did We See?" list).

If the Governor makes good on his threat to close most of the Bay Area's State Parks, it could be quite a while before we do this hike from Bolinas Ridge down into Samuel P. Taylor State Park again. But the Meanderers got to relish the moment as they were greeted by clear skies and sunshine at the trailhead and great views back to the west to Inverness Ridge.

The hills were still green here and Wendy's "What We Saw" list (click here to view and print it) shows that wildflowers were still in abundance including tarweed and columbine. Loads of butterflies went flitting by, and many birds were spotted, including Song Sparrows, Wilson's Warblers, and Western Bluebirds.

Reptiles continue to pop up on our hikes. Newts were our wet-weather hiking buddies. Mr. Rattlesnake shook a warning at us on the Rock Spring Loop hike two weeks ago. This time it was a Golpher Snake that made a cameo appearance.

(You can view these and other photos taken by Stan in the "mini-slide show" window in the blog, or by clicking here to go directly to the Picasa Web album of photos from the latest hike. Albums of photos from our other hikes can be accessed by clicking on the links on the right-hand side of the blog).