Jack London State Historic Park

I visit Jack London State Historic Park near Glen Ellen, CA a few times each year. It's a nice quiet place with a diverse selection of hiking trails. This winter's El Nino storms have turned Northern California spectacularly green, prompting me to visit the park in March armed with my new Leica M9-P camera and Leica Summicron 35mm f/2 lens.

This part of the park is more remote than the well visited Beauty Ranch section. The trail here is somewhat of a workout. Towards the end of the hike, the pay off is Fern Lake. The sound of a stream emptying into the lake and the wind in the trees make this a wonderful place for a picnic of cheese, crackers and maybe a nice California Pinot Noir.

I am amazed by the variety of shades of green in this image, taken while resting and having my snack.

For most all of the six years I have lived here, the Sonoma County landscape has been stressed by lack of sufficient rainfall. This Winter's rains have made everything lush, green and quite beautiful. 

After a few weeks of shooting the digital M9-P, I am itching to shoot film again. A few months back, I mentioned I was going to send my Canon P rangefinder and Leica M2 off to Youxin Ye for a CLA. Both cameras are back. He did a fine job and I will be writing more about Mr. Ye and my CLA experience with him soon. 

For now, time to load some film into my "like new" M2. Back soon.