Washburn Trail, Joseph D. Grant County Park, Santa Clara County, CA, 2/23/2007
This was a particularly beautiful winter's day in Joseph D. Grant County Park. I had enjoyed the afternoon wandering the hills near the beginning of Washburn Trail, making a number of photographs with impressive clouds in the sky. Eventually the sun was getting low and I headed back toward the car with a sense of accomplishment and completion. I happened to look over my shoulder glimpsing this wonderful scene, and proceeded to make one final photograph - my favorite of the day! To do a good job with landscape photography as with any occupation, it's best not to arrive late for work or leave too early! Here we see a grand old oak tree - dormant for winter - with impossibly intricate, gnarled, yet graceful branches whose collective shape is echoed in cumulus clouds that are just starting to take on the colors of sunset. This end of Grant County Park features numerous majestic oak trees standing proudly on gently rolling grass-covered hills. In the distance is snowcapped Mt. Hamilton - one of the landmark peaks surrounding the San Francisco Bay area. At 4,360 feet, it is the tallest mountain overlooking Santa Clara (Silicon) Valley, and is the site of Lick Observatory, the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory.
