Drought

We took a long walk this morning on the trails above Chatauqua Park. Early in the morning (7:30 AM) it was already hot outside. It was a pretty depressing walk, because everything was pretty crispy crunchy from the drought and heat. Oregon grapes were thin on the plants. Sulfur flower blooms were crisp to the touch. The grass was sere. The prickly pear plants were shriveled with tiny or skinny fruit. Very sad.

As we were walking back down Mesa Trail, we crossed one of the small creeks, which today was pretty much just puddles. There was a loud buzzing in the air, and I thought: "Oh, there are bees!) But as we walked past, I saw that there were thousands of wasps, hovering over the small pools of water in the rocks, and flying all about. Needless to say, we hastened on down the trail.

Tomorrow we walk up Boulder Creek. Hopefully it won't be so sad.