Last weekend my husband and I chose the absolute best day to go hiking in the Sierra foothills. Flowers were blooming in abundance, everything was green, and the weather was perfect. I hadn't been to Feather Falls in years--not since we carried one (or was it two?) of the kids on the trail. (And now the youngest is 19.) I have a lot of photos on my Facebook page, but here are a few of them.

There is a lot of poison oak along the trail. We could avoid it, but Rusty didn't seem to care. I knew that i'd need to give him a bath when we got home.

I wish I remembered all my wild flowers, but I enjoy them even if I don't remember all their names.

This delicate looking flower is a Ceanothus--Deer Brush or California lilac and the flowers cover bushes that are 6-8 feet high.

There were so many lupines that in places you could smell the sweet scent along the trail.

This is another kind of lupine that was closer to the falls.

Sticky monkey flower.

Feather Falls. The photo doesn't do it justice--600 feet of plunging water.