Soon I will be climbing Mt. San Gorgonio so I need to stay in shape. It has been hot and my desire to stay in where it is cool is greater than my desire to go out and hike up a mountain. This afternoon I forced myself out of the house. The outside temperature was over 90. It looked like 93 as I made my way out the door.
It was a tough first mile and a half before a little breeze kicked in. As I climbed up the Two Trees Trail, there were a couple of surprises. The first was some sunflowers that seemed to pop out of the dry foliage that one was thriving earlier in the year.
As I climbed further to where the Spring Trail comes near what is know as Box Springs, there was a new plant with red blooms growing among the nettle.
A also thought I would try my luck in getting a picture of a small flower that is about the size of the end of a finger. The camera always seems to focus on the ground below as the flower is small. Tonight I focused on my hand which was at the same distance from the lens as the flower. The flower is now in focus and I cropped my hand out of the picture.
Of course I also got to see a small deer. I was a little surprised as it came bleating around the side of the hill.
Soon enough the sun was going down and the heat was lowering so that I would consider it tolerable. I was glad that I got out tonight as I was able to see things that I would have missed if I was sitting at home in an air conditioned house.
