Pleasanton Ridge

Last Sunday Ayla and I hiked at Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. Its a multi-use area popular with hikers, mountain bikers, and horse riders. And since many of the open spaces are used for cattle grazing out here, there are also cows. Cows are cute, with their big glossy eyes and fuzzy coats. Cows are also large, and I'm very happy I have a dog that leaves them well enough alone. I took both Ayla and Mac here once before, but Mac is not exactly a long-distance dude. I think Ayla and I went at least 3 or 4 times farther than we did with Mac.

I didn't bring a map with me, so we just wandered where ever the trails took us. There were quite a few people out, but they seemed to mostly take the same Oak Ridge Trail, so we tried some less crowded routes and were actually all alone for quite a bit of the time. It was very nice. In all we went about 4.5 miles, and Ayla was worn out by the end. She was wearing her fur coat, after all.

I really want to explore more hiking areas, especially now that the rain is over and the paths aren't mud, but before the weather gets too hot to enjoy it without worrying about heatstroke for Ayla. There's an area nearby called "Little Yosemite," so perhaps I'll get over there this weekend.

Oak-shaded switchback reinforcements

At the top of the first big hill

I wish you could see these little purple flowers better... there was a sea of them

Onward and upward

Little leaves and spindly branches

Mess of lumber covering a gully/culvert/whose-a-whats-it

Cow!

Vibrant orange flowers

My view for most of the hike, approaching a wonderful vista point

Ayla's so tired, I think her ears fell off