Stevens Creek Nature Trail, Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, Palo Alto, Santa Clara County, CA, 9/25/2014
Here is one of my favorite views in all the San Francisco Bay Area. On this glorious afternoon immediately following the season’s first major rainfall, I was able to photograph Monte Bello under my favorite kind of sky! Italian for “Beautiful Mountain”, Monte Bello Open Space Preserve has rolling grasslands, dense creekside forests, and spectacular vistas. We are looking southeast along the San Andreas Fault, with the North American Plate to the left and the Pacific Plate to the right. Over thousands of years, fault movement has produced this beautiful landscape with two soil systems and thus two plant communities: brush and grass on one side, woodland on the other. I first read about the San Andreas Fault while growing up in New York City. Because of the ever-present danger of earthquakes, I quickly concluded that no one should live anywhere near here. Now the San Andreas Fault is just a short drive from my home, and I couldn’t be happier!
