Oak Glen (pt. 2)

 And here are a few more photos from my trip to Oak Glen on Monday. These are mostly from my walk around the outer areas, I decided to take the trail going down and there were too many trees there and not enough open spaces, so I took few photos there. It was "chaotic", as Ben Horne says, and there was no way to single out an element for a composition. It was like a tunnel of trees, and while a tunnel might be an element, it wasn't for me, not for a series of photos. I instead talked to myself like a madman, making noise because no one else was around in the heat, and because I needed to make noise so that any other animals that might be lurking (a bobcat, heaven forbid, a bear) might hear me and move away. That is something that bothers me, the idea of such an encounter.

Did I mention it was hot? It was, even though I was in the foothill of the mountains. It was too hot. I walked for about 45 minutes, and the trail went in a gradual slope downward, and I talked to myself and reminded myself of what a difficult experience it would be to return on that trail up. My camera pack became heavier, and it wasn't that enjoyable a hike. I don't know what the reviewers on Google are talking about when they praise the views on this trail, I didn't see them. People exaggerate, or else, maybe there must have been another trail, going up, that I needed to take, because the downward stream trail was not the one with the scenic views. 

It was too hot for a hike in any case. At least I was in the shade of the trees, and if I had taken a side trail and gone up into the hills, the sun would have punished me unmercifully. The trees were in the lower area, where there was that stream. Maybe in the fall I will return and try again, but when will we see fall-like weather? We really don't have a "Fall" season in southern California, and it won't start to get cool until late November, five months away. For now, we have a long stretch of months with unbearable heat again, and the fires are coming, I know it.