Black Mountain trip number 5 this year, out of 134 lifetime ones, and still making a discovery: an olive tree! No, despite the timely coincidence with the recent events making the news this weekend, this post isn’t about solutions to the awful wars(*) in Ukraine, Gaza, Sudan, Maghreb and Sahel, Ethiopia, but a lone olive tree I hadn’t noticed for more than 10 years; I know, Chuck, how embarrassing, not good for my docent application if I was to apply.
I’m not sure if I can claim the classic “to my defense” argument, I was going to say that this was on a section of Waterwheel Creek Trail which I’ve ran downhill recently, to add some mileage and hill training on my way up to Black Mountain. When I speed up, my eyes tend to be riveted on the ground to secure a good footing. But I’ve done it reverse too, so uphill, at a speed which allows to look around a bit more. What I believe happened is that this olive tree got quite healthy and vigorous with our wet Spring this year, so much that branches grew over the trail. Yes, great way to get some attention from runners and hikers, olive tree, well done! ;-)
The sweet part is that this tree is carrying quite a few olives. With the crazy cost of olive oil these days, I hesitated blogging about my encounter for the fear of revealing a golden treasure but, given the low usage of this trail and challenging accessibility (you need a special permit to park at the trail head), I think it’s pretty safe. At least that’s what I thought. Until I ran that trail 2 weeks later, as you'll read in an upcoming post, stay tuned!
Meanwhile, peace to all, please...
(*) So many fatalities from armed conflicts, tracked on that wikipedia page for instance. As I said, awful...
PS: to expand on my contributions to the Black Mountain Chronicle, a few other pictures from these July trips up to Black Mountain.
The waterwheel spring are is still a mess, under the fallen tree...
A brand new house dominating South Bay, on Montebello Road.
The climb on the dam is closed, can't wait to get an official trail here!
The Stevens Creek Reservoir, from Zinfandel.
The archery, from Lookout Trail.
Bench and view at the top of Lookout Trail.
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