One of the joys of visiting San Jose, California is hiking in the spectacular Almaden Quicksilver County Park that rises above the western edge of the Almaden Valley. I have hiked Quicksilver in every season, in every kind of weather, and never cease to be amazed by its serenity and beauty, particularly considering its proximity to the cacophony of the city just beyond its ridges. I was in Northern California this past weekend and was able to extract myself from a busy schedule to do a quick hour and a half loop on a drizzly Saturday morning. I’m so accustomed to trying to compensate for the searing light of the desert Southwest that shooting on a softly lit, overcast day was a joy. Here are two of the images from our morning hike:

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