Out in the Copper countryside

Having an entire day to myself and being amidst beautiful storm clouds I could hardly contain my excitement at the amazing sky covering my county.  I decided to grab the dog and take a back road tour of Copperopolis.  With my camera in my lap and four lenses within arms reach I set out amongst the oak trees and green rolling hills to see what I could find.

  

My tour started on Rock Creek Road where oaks and farm land is abundant.  The cows seemed to be enjoying the green grass as much as I was (no, I wasn’t grazing in a field).  In just a few short months it will be dead, brown and ugly.  I’m really not looking forward to the heat of summer, especially in Copper.

Next I visited Felix and Carmen City before turning on Hunt Road.   Hunt Road is  gorgeous with steep hills and valleys.  My camera just couldn’t do the area justice.  From Hunt Road you can see the entire valley.   Next was Milton Road which took me to Highway 4.  I turned off on Telegraph Road, a road I had wanted to take every time I passed it but seemed to always be headed somewhere else, usually in a hurry.  Telegraph Road takes you to Telegraph City (originally called Grasshopper City)  which is desolate with no habitable structures.   The dog and I roamed around and didn’t see one other car the entire hour we were there.  There are a couple of abandoned structures and remnants of rock buildings and walls that provided good photo opportunities.  However, the sky had lost its clouds and turned into one giant grey blob.

Four hours and 200 pictures later I could hardly feel my fingers so decided to head home just as the rain drops started to fall.  The dog had already given up; sound asleep in the backseat under a blanket in his bed.  I hope that tomorrow brings the same kind of sky.  I would love to go out for a few more hours tomorrow.

Some edited shots