A Walk Down Dover Canyon Road from Vineyard Drive

Dover Canyon Road is one of my favorite walks. I normally park by the cemetery on the corner of Dover Canyon Road and Vineyard Drive and walk to the bridge. That is one mile one way with a climb of 113 feet. The walk begins at the Willow Creek Cemetery. When you get past the cemetery, the road looks like this if there has been rain recently. If not, this part of the walk may be hot and dusty and the meadows brown.


The day I took these photos was March 28, 2011, and it was a year we had rainfall and there was water in the creek running along the road. You can enlarge any photo by clicking it.

Eventually the road curves and takes you into a more forested region where you will find more shade in summer.

This is where the trees begin to get really interesting. The Spanish moss on most of them can make you think you are in an enchanted forest. 

Finally after going through the forest and maybe past a horse farm, you will reach a small flat bridge. From it you can see the creek flowing through the forest. 

I have never gone past the bridge. The road does not go through. I believe it ends in private property. You can also find Dover Canyon Road going north off Highway 46 West. I have a friend that lives at that end, but the two parts of the road do not connect. This is a walk I really enjoy in the spring or winter when the weather is still cool and there is a chance the fields are green.

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Jack Creek Road in West Templeton

One of my favorite walking routes is along Jack Creek Road in West Templeton. It runs from Highway 46 West over Jack Creek, past Jack Creek Cellars, and around the bend until in places it parallels Highway 46 West until it ends at Vineyard Drive to the east. As you enter from 46 West you will pass a forested area. If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you will actually see 46 west to the far right with trees on both sides.

I usually park near the entrance to the left along a frontage road. Then I walk across this bridge over Jack Creek. Sometimes it even has water in it.

You can already see that this walk will take you past some large oak trees. One of them is not too far along the road after you have crossed the bridge. It is draped with Spanish moss, as are many of our oak trees here

As you continue on your walk you will  soon pass Jack Creek Cellars and its vineyard and tasting room. Remember, you can click any photo to enlarge it.

Shortly after you pass the vineyards, the trees are farther apart and the road curves. You will then pass some fields and an occasional house. It is here you have the best view of the mountains on the other side of 46 West.


From here to Vineyard Drive there will not be much shade as the trees get more scarce by the road. The closer you get to Vineyard Drive, the more houses you will see. You know you will be getting into that section soon when you see these trees ahead. From a distance they look like one large tree, but this is what you see up close. We did this walk in late afternoon, so it appears my shadow left its mark.

Which part of the road do you like best?

An Unexpected Horse Encounter

I had no idea where I would go photo hunting today, since time was limited. I had to go to Templeton, so I decided to explore a road to its very end, just to see where it went. I almost couldn't get on it because the road entrance was blocked by a huge tow truck trying to get a stalled motorist back on the road. They recommended I just go over the low curb to get around them. So reluctantly, I did.

The road I had selected was Twelve Oaks Drive that goes past the Doce Robles winery, vineyards, and tasting room. I had often walked part of that road, but I never had seen where it ended. It actually wasn't as long as I thought it might be. It's curvy and goes through a grove of oaks and then crosses over a dry creek on a sort of bridge. As I was crossing the bridge, I look over the edge and saw this. You can click on the picture to make it bigger.

I zoomed in to get a closer view. I could tell it was a beautiful horse.

I was parked on the bridge and had gotten out of my car to snap the pictures. That's when I discovered this lovely horse had friends.  I had gotten back in the car, and when I looked out the window, I saw the group moving toward the bridge and my car. They seemed curious.

I would have loved to have stayed and watched them longer, but I was parked right on the bridge and there was nowhere to park on the side of the road. The road ended on private property almost as soon as I crossed the creek. I reluctantly headed for home. Fortunately the road was no longer blocked.

Have you had any surprises today?

 Jigsaw Puzzle of Brown Horse Grazing Playing Cards : Brown Horse in Los Alamos

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The Birds, the Bees, and the Flowers on the Snead/Rambouillet Trail

Revisiting the Snead/Rambouillet Trail

I previously walked this trail on March 18, but at that time I didn't know its name. Evidently the official trail entrances are on Snead and Rambouillet, but I entered on Oxen near Brahma. If you walk across the street from the sign toward the tree on the other side and then turn left on the sidewalk, you will almost immediately see the entrance to the trail on the right. I showed you the entrance in Surprised by a Hidden Trail on March 19. You see stairs leading from the sidewalk down to the trail.

Last week it was dusk when I walked and I didn't have much time to explore. Today I walked in late afternoon while the sun was bright. As one walks down the steps into the forested open space, the first thing one notices at this time of year is the display of colorful wildflowers on either side of the stairs.

I wasn't the only once to notice all those flowers. You could hear them almost before you could see them because the bees were very busy gathering pollen. I caught this one on a clover blossom. They were also doing the rounds of the vetch, but I didn't see many on the lupines and poppies, which were also abundant.

The birds were also quite active. I could hear the woodpeckers in the trees, but I couldn't see any. I did see lots of scrub jays like this one. They didn't seem eager to be captured by my  camera, but I finally found one who decided to show off a bit instead of playing hide and seek in the branches.

Open Space to Explore Nature is Important for Children

As I walked, I couldn't help but regret the suburb of Los Angeles I grew up in didn't have any wild places where kids could walk to a place nearby to explore nature. We had a park with a playground, a tennis court, a cement slab where we could skate, some ball fields, and some trees. There were no "wild" areas to explore. There were no creeks or ponds where one could see ducks and catch tadpoles.

The children lucky enough to live in the neighborhoods around these trails have all of that. Here are a couple of ducks that were resting in the shadows beside the creek. I also saw tiny tadpoles in another park of the creek, but they were too small to photograph.

The ground squirrels I saw wouldn't pose for me, either, but I saw them. They would dive into a nearby hole before I could even see them clearly. Nevertheless I did my best to catch them on camera, and when I got home I found there was one who did not manage to escape my zoom lens. It's not a very clear shot, but it proves I saw him.

 Nature's Playground: Activities, Crafts, and Games to Encourage Children to Get Outdoors

If you'd like to encourage your children to explore nature, one of these books might be a good place to get some inspiration. 

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 Sharing the Joy of Nature: Nature Activities for All Ages Sharing Nature®: Nature Awareness Activities for All Ages How to Raise a Wild Child: The Art and Science of Falling in Love with Nature

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Do you have any wild places children near you can explore within walking distance of their homes? What sort of wildlife do you see most where you live?

Surprised by a Hidden Trail

I had been very busy inside today and by 5:30 I still hadn't decided where to take my photo walk -- especially since I had a meeting at 7. I finally had no choice but to go to the meeting area a few minutes early, drop my husband at the meeting place, and take a walk, knowing the meeting would probably start late, as usual. So that's what I did.

The meeting was in a home on Oxen Street in Paso Robles. As I was coming down the hill to the home, this was the view at the top of the hill before I went down. (Above)

I had walked in this residential neighborhood before, but not very far. I parked down the road past the house where the meeting way and then started to walk up. I saw some children coming toward the sidewalk from what appeared to be a path to the right. When I asked, they said it was indeed a walking trail. So, of course, I decided to explore it for a few minutes.

As I started down the trail, the first thing I noticed were the wild flowers in bloom. There was clover, and a lot of yellow flowers I can't name. But the most beautiful flowers were the lupine. I look forward to having them bloom every year.

As I continued down the path I saw a bridge ahead, so I continued on. It turned out that it was over a creek that actually had water in it. That's a rare site during this drought.

Naturally, I crossed the bridge to see the creek. There was a tall oak on the other side of it that reflected into the water. I was torn as to whether to get the reflection or the height of the tree. I chose the reflection.

Because I was trying to capture the reflection of the tree in the creek, the camera was too low to capture the sky, which was beginning to display the setting sun. The path back to the car led me through the wild flowers again and I kept pausing to take pictures of the sky.

I shot it through the trees, with the tops of the trees, and with buildings in the background -- however I could only capture the pastel colors, since the sun itself was already down. I will leave you with this final photo of the sunset as I climbed back up the hill toward my car and the meeting.

To me, a sunset is God's final blessing to mark the end of day. Have you had any surprises or special blessings today?

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