Hot Water?

With a trail named Agua Caliente, I was left wondering if there are hot springs somewhere in Ed Levin County Park. [Found no references.] Figuratively speaking, we were in hot water when we reached a very mucky stretch of the trail soon after starting out.

One person veered right, into the brush; another veered left, and slipped. I opted for the middle, more or less, and just muddied my boots before pausing to photograph the morass before moving on.

Waiting for the rest of our group to arrive, I had abundant avian company skittering about in the parking lot: noisy Red-winged Blackbirds, Great-tailed Grackles, and Brown-headed Cowbirds. What were they after?

I certainly didn't expect to find a Great Egret hunting along the trail, with long-lens photographers and casual gawkers mere feet away.

Climbing higher, we were afforded a quintessentially Bay Area view: rolling green hills and farm buildings in the foreground, stately homes transitioning to office/industrial sprawl and then marshland along San Francisco Bay, the Santa Cruz Mountains in the distance.

Cattle can be unpredictable, but this animal was more interested in grazing than messing with passing hikers.

I covered 3.6 miles with a few hundred feet of elevation gain, acquiring a new perspective on the region and a park I've biked past dozens of times.