Walk around Rubidoux

I had to get out today while I had the chance. I don't teach on Fridays, this is one of my rest days, and we are projected to have rain on Saturday and Sunday. I suspect the rain prediction will be a bust, we might have some drops, but it doesn't seem probably that rain will arrive. This is an arid land, and rain is usually limited to a few months in the spring. However, just in case, I had to do something. Originally I was going to go to the UCR Botanic Garden but, luckily enough, I checked the website to confirm if it was open. It wasn't. They are closed from Thursday to Sunday, so it would have been a waste to drive there. So, where could I go? Why not climb Mt. Rubidoux again?

I left a little after 10 a.m. today, and by then, it was already very warm. I figured, this was optimal for me, I would just take some bottles of water and I could manage the climb easily, and the heat would keep away other climbers. Well, I was wrong. Not about the heat, it was present and it got a little hotter and hotter while I was there, but about it keeping the hordes away. We were in the low 80s and it seemed as if there were more people out than usual. I drove by the base and saw many, many people walking up the sidewalk to join the path that takes them up the hill/mountain. Almost all of them were NOT wearing face masks, alarmingly enough, and yet, they laughing and talking nonchalantly. It was as if the election, or more likely, false confidence and the need for relief from the tension of a pandemic, had freed them to just go ahead and climb in crowds without any fear. We are all tired, and of course I am very, very tired also of wearing facemasks and find them very uncomfortable and hot, but I wear them because I have to minimize risks for myself and my family. I decided right then and there, as I walked by the hordes getting ready to assault the mountain, that I would not join them. I would instead walk around the park that lies at the base of the hill/mountain (it is not a mountain, it is a glorified hill).

Arriving at the park I started my walk and found, to my surprise, the way to the bike path that leads around the other side of the hill/mountain. There is no climbing involved, and I have walked along this path but on the other end, the one that leads from Fairmont Park (the one with the murky lake). This would be my first time walking that path, so why not take it? I was traveling light since I only had my Fuji GW690ii film camera and my cellphone, and I know that sounds inaccurate, because that Fuji camera weighs like an anchor, but on many occasions I have been much more heavily laden, so this time, I was traveling light. It was not much of a walk, maybe two miles, but it took me over an hour because I was stopping to take photos.

The thing is, it is located right next to this wild forested area that is kept that way because it lines the Santa Ana River. The city has chosen not to build there, for some reason, although in the city named Crown they have built all along the same river which they have lined with concrete. At least in the stretch that I walk in the morning, there is also a wild stretch in the part of the river that runs through the city called Crown as it nears the western edge.

There are homeless encampments everywhere hidden in the bushes. There is also much trash that gives evidence of this, dirty and discarded clothing, boxes, packages, etc. next to the paths and under trees. People are whizzing by on bicycles, some are walking (like me) or jogging, but as I would stop to take photos, I felt uncomfortable, as if I was being watched by hidden eyes. I know there were men and women hidden in and among those trees, it is a homeless city inhabited by maybe hundreds of people. I even saw a few when I would venture into the trees to try to get a composition. You have to be careful, if they see you taking photos, many become very aggressive, and I was called an "a-hole" very loudly by one lady on another occasion when I was walking near another stretch of this road. They appear suddenly out of the trees and watch, or you can hear voices coming from inside. They must think that anyone who takes photos is there as part of a control effort that is meant to drive them out. For me, I just feel terrible that they live there, but want to take photos of landscapes, not of them, not of their encampments, I don't want to invade one of the few abodes they have, I just want to see wild areas in the city.

I walked along the path today on what was a warm day with clouds. It was great for IR light, and I was shooting IR film, Japan Camera Hunter Streetpan 400. Problem is, I have to use a very dark filter, a Hoya R72, and it is so dark it requires that I open up exposure by 4-5 stops, so I was shooting at f16 and using a shutter speed of 1/30. When I magnify my images, I can see that they are somewhat blurry because, yes, that is too slow of a shutter speed for handheld images, but there was not way in heck that I was going to be carrying a heavy tripod to steady my photos. On location photography is supposed to be relaxing, not torture.

As I was walking at times I feared that I might be approached by some of the homeless. A man pulling two carts with his belongings walked right by me but didn't say anything. I saw a few others waiting under the shade of trees, or just standing in a way that seemed suspicious, but fortunately, there is too much traffic by bicyclists for them to threaten anyone. I just keep walking, trying to capture a particular cloud formation that seemed to me to be like a spaceship in the sky. When I was trying to catch a view on the other side, a young man wearing a baseball cap with the rim to the back and walking unsteadily walked out and just stood in my path. I walked away from him and eventually he walked back into the undergrowth.

There is a bridge that goes over the Santa Ana river, and under the bridge, much street art that looks very colorful and creative. I wish I could go down there and take photos, but I know better than to try. There are many homeless people encamped around there, I can see their tents. It would have been dangerous because I would have left the safe area represented by the bike path. So, I just kept to the path and walked. Here are a few of my cellphone photos. 

Starting the walk. I loved these flowers, although this is not really a good composition. 

The hills around Mt. Rubidoux. They are alive with the sound of ....the rustling of lizards and the scampering of rabbits. I've seen snakes here too but those make absolutely no sound. They just terrify you when they cross your path, and you leap back and shiver and let them go where they want, as long as it is far away from us.

Off in the distance, other hills. That is not Mt. Rubidoux, and I would wager that, whatever it is called and wherever it is located (it is in the direction of San Bernardino), it must be at least as high as Mt. Rubidoux. See the cloud? That looked like a spaceship to me.

I shot this in infrared as well.

Working my composition muscles. My other muscles, my legs, my arms, my abdomen, need a workout too, but I will concentrate on photos. 

Small bell ornament at the foot of Mt. Rubidoux. On the other side is a dog park.

This is the bridge over the Santa Ana River. There is plenty of street art here on all the support structures underneath. Also, much evidence of homeless encampments here.

The riparian (I got that word from a BBC comedy series called "Keeping up appearances" about a Mrs. Bouquet, played by Patricia Routledge, who wants to be socially mobile) area around the river. That is what it means, next to or pertaining to the river. You can see the fall colors arriving.

I was surprised to see such a strong stream for the Santa Ana River. It almost seems like a respectable flow of water, not the miserable trickle I usually see. There are many, many homeless encampments (tents, chairs, blankets, etc.) that pop into view as one moves about.

The other side of the street. 

The shoulders of Mt. Rubidoux

I tried to frame a better photo here.

So that was my trip this morning/afternoon along the path at the base around the hill/mountain called Mt. Rubidoux. I used to climb it almost every day when I lived a few miles away back in the period from 2006-2009. Now, with Covid and the indifference of people towards wearing masks, best to stay away.