Visiting the mountains

I woke up with a feeling of expectation. Today, I wanted to go to the mountains. Ordinarily I would be prepping for an afternoon Zoom class, but today was a mental health day for me. I was going to be making this trip instead, but I had to decide. Angeles Forest or the San Bernardino Forest? Both were compelling places, but something told me that the park administration at Angeles is being extraordinarily finicky, delaying opening campsites or parking stations, so I went to San Bernardino.

It was a quick trip up there. Either way, it was going to be one hour, but because I kept on stopping to take photos as I climbed up the mountain, it took me two hours. I left at 10 a.m. and didn't get to Lake Arrowhead until noon. I enjoyed the trip up there thoroughly, as you climb, they have pull-outs it seems like every hundred feet, and the views are compelling. I would need to go earlier in the day to get the best light looking west, because that way, the sun would be to the east and it would light it up. Also, I imagine sunset looking west must be spectacular, but there is no way I want to be driving up or down that winding mountain road as light is falling. It would be way too dangerous for me.

Here are some photos of my original destination, Heaps Arboretum. Amazingly enough, it was open! So many times it says open on the web, but when you go, it turns out it is closed. There were several other parks that I passed where I would stop quickly, and they had closed signs, but I stopped there anyway. I will not be coming here very soon, with winter comes snow, and I am not driving in snow, so this might be my first and last trip here until next spring. So, even at these closed parks, I parked and walked around and took photos.

This was a small park. It was advertised as having a mile-long trail but I doubt it was that long. It was over in a flash. The only nervous parts were when I had to walk on tracts that were covering in slushy snow. Good thing it was slushy and we had a reasonably warm day. I would hate to think what would have happened if it was slippery.

The colors were beautiful. No, we don't have the amazing yellows and reds that are seen in the east, that is not the type of tree we have out here. As they told me at the Oak Glen Preserve last week, what we have are more the orangey type trees. There was a good breeze blowing, so at times, we were sprayed by showers of leaves. The branches, I think, will be bare in about two weeks. It is coming, winter.

The orangey leaves were still quite beautiful. They are golden, and they stand out as Bruin colors with the blue of the sky. It is a good combination. 

I will post more photos in a little bit.