Today we walked under the watchful eye of this turkey vulture into Mark West Spring Regional Park, a Sonoma County park-to-be. It'll be a few years before the park is officially open. There is trail work to be done, bathrooms to install, and parking to work out, but Parks offers preview hikes on it's new property to a limited number of individuals who sign up for tickets.
Today it was muddy and slippery on the trail, so we were only out about an hour and a half. We saw deer tracks and Cinnamon stopped a few times to gaze attentively into the woodland around us, but neither Cailin or I saw anything moving.
The park is some 1200 acres, and about half of it has trails we are allowed on now during the preview. The open trails go along Mark West Spring itself, a busy, gurgling spring that seemed surprisingly lively despite the recent drought. There has been enough fog and light mist to dampen everything however, and recent rain, light as it was, was enough to muddy the trail and encourage the growth of a number of difference fungi along the trail, from the silvery green lichen covered logs, to a variety of mushrooms in every imaginable shape.
Unfortunately, having the dog on leash made it difficult to take a lot of photographs, and while the hike was peaceful and beautiful, there wasn't a lot that I thought was unusual enough to record, and I spent the walk in conversation with Cay and just simply enjoying the gurgling of the creek, the sounds of the birds, and the smell of the damp woodland.
We'll be going back on another preview day when it's dryer and easier to navigate, and without the dog. It'll be a few years before the park opens formally, and until then, I'll enjoy the preview days with the reduced crowds and the quiet solitude in the woodland.
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