The best time to hike around here, I think, is shortly after it rains. Especially if it was a short rain, the kind that lasts only part of a morning. The trails are damp, but not too muddy. No dust. It smells like a Christmas tree lot, though there aren’t any pines– must be some combo of the sage and the soil. The sky’s clear but still has some magnificent malingering clouds. And it’s warm enough for short sleeves.
Here’s some oak trees at Mission Trails. These are always sufficiently shady and spooky.
This looks like an egg. Maybe it’s a fossilized egg. Maybe some dinosaur will crack it open. Who knows?
I did not cause it to fall down, by the way. It was like that.
MARGARET DILLOWAY 
……Not to mention the panoramic view of the mountains all the way to Riverside/San Bernardino counties…….looking down into Mexico at the Coronado Islands, all glorious from the top of Cowles Mtn. You are right, the sage is intoxicating.