Well, not really the last hike, but the last for a while. Auntie Kristen wanted to visit the Santa Rosa Plateau, and we wanted to visit the vernal pools that we learned about on our first trip, but didn't see, so off we went.
Even though we got there by 10 am, it was already pretty hot. The ranger warned us about rattlesnakes, and bees, but said not to worry about the mountain lions. "They're sleeping at this time of day." Well, that's a relief. We can relax.
However, the instant we got out of the car, we heard this, rattle. A lot of rattling actually. It was loud. We wondered. "There can't be hundreds of rattlesnakes, right? That's just the dry grass blowing in the wind. Isn't there some bug that makes that sound?" We stuck to the middle of the trail.
Do you see that dragon fly on the blade of grass? Even though the vernal pools were mostly dried up and therefore a little disappointing, there was still enough water, and enough green grass to make it interesting. We will go back in the winter, after some rain, when the pools are supposed to be beautiful. The boys enjoyed the raised bridge.
And especially the view it offered us of snakes cooling off in the mud. Auntie Kristen was the expert spotter. The snake sightings were the highlight of the trip. Especially since they weren't rattlesnakes.
We couldn't stay out much longer. The sun was pretty intense and I had a baby on my back. We stopped to climb a tree. We were warned by a worried, grandmotherly hiker that there were hundreds of rattlesnakes around and we better stay on the trail. We tanked up on water. And then we headed back.
In a few days we were moving back home. To our new home. Let the new adventures begin!
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