Second Ridge and the Barr Letter About the Mueller Report

Yesterday we set out from the Genser Trailhead towards Second Ridge.  There seems to be some controversy within the group of neighbors who hike as to whether it's actually 1st or 3rd ridge.  We don't participate in those discussions, I have maps that have labeled two ridges as 1st and 2nd, Jim and I can communicate as to where it is we're going, so we're happy.   There's a good bloom out there, but the light was so harsh that my attempts to photograph it were futile.  Here are some Mexican Poppies.

Look at the color of this flower.  I didn't do anything with saturation, it really is that color.  I do not know what these are. Update to post:  I am very reliably informed that this is a Desert Mariposa Lily.

After the first steep bit, we stopped at an overlook for some water.  We're out in the middle of nowhere.  Two people (tourists) came ambling down a trail navigating by cell phone.  That always surprises me that people put that much faith in their phones as most of the maps are not complete, wrong, or the trail's not on the map.  We've had to redirect people we've run into who haven't the foggiest idea of where they're going, but cling to the screen.

The peak where one sees this was the goal.  The switch backs up the side of the hill were bad before, but they're worse now.  Going up is not so bad, but going down is tedious due to all of the loose rocks.  The peak farthest away is Golden Gate.  The ridge next to it is Ringtail.

The right arrow is pointing at the top of the neighborhood's water tower.  That's the one that we see from hour front yard.  The left arrow is pointing at the Yetman trail.  It's the Yetman, he's everywhere.

More of Ringtail and the mountains behind it.

Cat Mountain is on the left, Little Cat is on the right.

As everyone knows by now, AG Barr released a highly edited summation of the Barr report, in which he wrote that there was no conclusion about obstruction, but neither was the president exonerated.  The republicans have run with this report and are chanting "no collusion" and demanding the resignations of anyone who participated in the the investigations.  It's interesting that I don't remember this behavior after the White Water investigations revealed nothing. 

The full text of Barr's letter can be found here if you're interested.

We've all watched the emoluments violations at Trump Hotel, we've seen Don Jr. in a room with Russians with the express purpose of getting "dirt" on Hillary.  We've seen the roll backs of environmental protections and the appointments of former coal executives to run the EPA.  Coal fired plants got permission to put more mercury in the air.  Trade wars are putting the farmers in Nebraska out of business.  Voting rights are being undermined.  Relationships with allies are under assault while the president aligns himself with people like Brazil's Bolsonaro who stated publicly that he wanted to remove the scourge of LGBT people from the earth while the president stood there nodding like a drinking bird.  Where does this end?  I have not felt this bad since Hillary lost the election.