The memory of trees

My first few hikes this year have been on dry landscapes. Heading to Morgan Territory I started off the hiking season with a stroll along the Volvon and Blue Oak Trails.

In late winter and the hills already have the look of early summer. Sunshine and parched hills greeted me as I hiked along the parched trails winding through live oak groves.

Seasonal streams are non-existent this year and the only sound on the trail is the rustle of the wind through the dry leaves clinging to the branches.

With  sun-bleached hillsides surrounding me I focused on the stark shapes and forms of the trees around me on the trail. bare branches twisted into a myriad of shapes against a beautiful blue winter sky.

With a long dry spell ahead I can only imagine what the trail will look like in mid summer.