Trails offer a great place to view sunrise, sunset

Published on Page 13 of the July 10, 2013 issue of Morgan Hill Life

By Marty Cheek

At sunrise and sunset, during the day’s dawn and dusk hours, Morgan Hill residents stroll the trails of the San Pedro Ponds and find a tranquil spot where the universe seems to stop for a magic moment.

Just before sunrise, the geese, ducks and egrets that make the ponds their aquatic home warm up their wings with gentle flapping. The peaks of the faraway Santa Cruz Mountains glow with the first rays of the new day’s solar blaze. As the minutes flow by, the line of light creeps down into the valley, finally kissing the peak of El Toro mountain on the western edge of Morgan Hill.

A woman in gray sweats jogs along the trail. An elderly couple stop by the low chain-link fence that surrounds one of the ponds. They gaze at the water fowl swimming toward them. A man and women pace along with a pack of three Rhodesian ridgebacks. The dogs tightly held on leashes sniff the grass bordering the trail. An instant later, an exploding spark of light appears on the ridge of the Diablo Mountain range to the east of the ponds. The new day has dawned. Morgan Hill is waking up.

As the day comes to its close, the sun edges closer to Mt. Umunhum west of Morgan Hill. The shards of its celestial brilliance glitter on the breeze-tossed waters of one of the San Pedro Ponds.  A mallard duck dives into the depth, hungry for a mouthful of grub at the weedy bottom. A young woman sits on a bench looking toward the sunset. A mother pushes a stroller with a one-year-old baby girl in it. The child peers out at the mystery wonders along the nature trail.

As the sun settles behind the mountain ridge horizon to light other parts of our planet, the afternoon breeze eases for the approaching night. A stillness fills the moment as the sunset’s embers fade to black. Two geese circle overhead and arch their wings as they settle into a splash landing on a pond. Morgan Hill is going to sleep.

INFO:

The San Pedro Percolation Ponds is owned by the Santa Clara Valley Water District and is located at the corner of Hill Road and San Pedro Avenue. You can find an entrance on Hill Road across Sundance Drive and also on San Pedro Avenue near Morgan Hill Cellars.