Mission Trails Regional Park, San Diego County

Another warm, pleasant sunny day here in Southern California. This morning we walked in Mission Trails Regional Park, just north of San Diego. This park exceeded expectations both in terms of what it looked like and the opportunities for walking and exploring this very interesting environment.

This shot is of the San Diego River valley which cuts through the Park providing a ribbon of green in an otherwise hot, dry, desert like environment. This area has been settled for 100s of years and evidence of the lives of native Indians abound.

Doing this walk at mid-day proved difficult for photograph, as you know, as the high sun flattens the landscape and hides the detail. This was the best I could do under the circumstances.

The low rugged hills of the Park are of granite, part of a huge batholith which underlies this part of Southern California. Originally this batholith would have been buried deep in the core of a huge mountain range that has now been worn down to the remnants you see today.

There were lots of interpretative boards along the way to the visitors centre, which itself was very well presented. The Park and its centre will repay a further visit.

After lunch we embarked on another, longer, trip north to Martin Luther King High School in Riverside to watch a Drumline competition. A very interesting experience with impressive musicianship and choreography very much evident.

Stopped in Temecula on the way home for supper and arrived back to enjoy champagne celebrating Chris and De'Shaun's engagement.