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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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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