Views from the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch County Park
Vasona County Park
View in Santa Teresa County Park
Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum in the distance.
Reservoir and Drought
Here is Uvas Reservoir now, during our drought. The water is usually much higher.
Still, that is better than it was five months ago before we had even modest rain amounts. Here is the same spot in October below.
Below is another part of Uvas reservoir now, during our drought.
You have to go a ways down to get to the water. Still, that is better than it was in October as seen below.
It is amazing how many gallons of water that difference represents at just one of many reservoirs we have. I look forward to comparing these photos to future wet and dry years. Interestingly, when it is wet, or wetter, dry, or drier, there always seems to be people out here finding some form of recreation. I didn’t capture it in photos but there are at least 20 people around me as I took these photos on both dates fishing, walking, relaxing, and taking photos.
Uvas Reservoir
This photo was taken from “inside” the Uvas Reservoir just before last week’s rain. many things are interesting about this and about the time spent standing “in” there, thinking. One neat thing about this was this tree stump. The dam was built in 1957 and this tree has presumably been submerged ever since. Or, at least, most of the time ever since. Maybe it was exposed in other droughts? Certainly it was submerged every time I had happened to ever visit the reservoir here in the Santa Clara County Park. Either way, this tree was once a tree along Uvas Creek before there was a reservoir about it. This tree has been sitting under water for most of 64 years, brushing up against fish and snails and water molecules for decades.
Beautiful Tree
A beautiful tree at Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch Park.
Santa Teresa County Park
Flowers in the Grass
Little flowers everywhere in the grass at Hellyer County Park.
Calero County Park
Cottonwood Lake
Reflections in Cottonwood Lake in Hellyer County Park. From this one spot, within 3 minutes of standing still, I saw fish jumping, three dragonflys, a little baby duck with a parent duck, and two small birds, all come to within ten feet of where I stood under a tree along the water. And then I watched this reflection in the lake for a while.