Hat Creek Radio Observatory Frog Pond

A photo of the missus and myself taken by a sharp-eyed observer from the road.  This little pond was teeming with frogs and fish and birds and rushes and aspens and lots and lots of algae.  It’s the most alive little place we have seen this entire trip.  It is surrounded on all sides (except the road side) with volcanic boulders and hardy scrub oaks, or valley oaks.  It looks like high desert elsewhere, essentially:

Note for the weary reader:  I keep referring to Hat Creek Radio Observatory, for which we detoured from our planned route only to find it closed (it was a Sunday).  I will keep this inconvenience enshrined in this fashion for as long as the Web shall last.