Washburn Trail, Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 3/24/2015
Amid a sunny interlude on a cloudy afternoon in early spring, I photographed the green rolling hills of Halls Valley from atop a hill near the White Barn. My timing was advantageous; minutes later, the sun retired behind the clouds for the day, rendering the scene dark and gloomy. By summer, the grass in this valley dies, and these beautiful green hills turn to shades of tan and brown. Halls Valley lies at the western foot of Mt. Hamilton, a few miles east of San Jose, CA. This pastoral setting is part of 9,560 acre Joseph D. Grant County Park, where cows graze and wild boars roam freely. The area was first inhabited by Werwersen Ohlone Indians. The valley is named after attorney Frederic Hall (1825-1898), who was paid with this land by his client Jose Bernal to process and file land claims to fulfill the requirements of the Federal Land Act of 1851. Hall was also an author, journalist, and an authority on trade, property, agrarian and water rights, mines, contracts, and inheritances that applied in the Mexican context as well as in the territories ceded to the United States.
