A Late Afternoon Adventure

The other day the kids asked me to take them to the canyon. My daughter wanted to try to catch an insect in her new butterfly net and my son wanted to take pictures. It was already 5:30 pm and fairly cool out, not the best conditions for finding flying insects (except maybe mosquitoes).

The trail we chose was a steep one and the lower section was in shadow at this point. We would have to hike for about 20 minutes uphill to get to the areas that still had some sun. On the way the handle of the butterfly net broke off (not too promising for its first outing) - my daughter decided to give me the broken part and try to catch things with the short stub left. We did make it to a sunny spot where she wound up catching a small moth. We were able to stick the handle back into the net to make the special 'tent' - one of the reasons we got the net in the first place. We observed the moth for a bit and then released it.

My son took many photos of wildflowers and scenery. There are an abundance of wildflowers this year, right now especially. We saw lupines, paintbrush, poppies, monkeyflower, buttercup, red bud, mule's ears, shooting stars and more that I don't know the names of. Also, the oaks are flowering too - on the hike we saw blooming live and blue oak trees.

To add to the excitement, when we were looking out across the canyon we saw two coyotes climbing down the hillside together! I really enjoy our trips to the canyon. I wind up forgetting my cares and relaxing and enjoying the beauty all around me. We'll have to go back again soon.