Thanks to the wild fires and the change of seasons, the profusion of flowers that 
painted the mountains such vibrant colors is now gone. Except for the lemonade berry, the toyon and a few other trees, everything is more muted. The caterpillar phacelia, once a beautiful lavender, is now grey. The buckwheat has turned from pink to rust.
ELBEE Someone is showing off her limited knowledge of plants.
Still there are a lot of colorful things happening. Nothing like the naked hiker I saw a few years ago, but enough to keep it interesting. I’ve seen two rattlers lately, a gopher snake the length of a garden hose and a horned toad, very cute in a miniature dinosaur kind of way.
CHARLEY She used to scream and take off like an Olympian at the sight of a snake. Now she’s photographing them. I’m quite proud
On a trail near my house, I saw an ornate handled knife stuck in the ground. The 
word “help” had been etched into the dirt around it. It was very disturbing but there was no one in the area and there were no signs of foul play. A day later it was gone.
In stark contrast, this graffiti was on a nearby wall. 
CHARLEY Now that’s ironic.
And talk about disturbing, a much older man on a bike rode by with his bike shorts so low that his butt crack was showing.
CHARLEY & ELBEE Unfortunately we saw it too and won’t be able to unsee it for eternity.
Something on the news a few weeks ago made me think that I could become one of the more intriguing people in the mountains. A woman with a beautiful voice was singing in the subway. A policeman shot a video of her and it went viral, leading to all kinds of opportunities.
ELBEE I’m afraid to see where this is going.
I sometimes sing to keep myself going when I’m heading up a steep trail. What if a ranger videotaped me and it went viral?
ELBEE Two problems immediately come to mind. She’s tone deaf and only knows about three songs.
I’d be the singing grandma of the mountains. I’d get so much mileage out of it that I’d reach my dream of becoming an influencer, a hiking influencer, even if I’m still not exactly sure what an influencer is.
ELBEE The only thing she’d influence people to do is to stop hiking. And I think the daughters need to get her one of those senior alert bracelets.
