Sunrise 6:14 am: Giant plants amidst streams of water

The Dawn Joggers and Cassie hit their favorite Portola Valley trail this morning for the first time in a couple of weeks. This trail has been a good bet in all seasons - never too muddy in the winter and plenty of shade on a hot summer day.

But evidently the multiple rain storms over the past week were just too much. The ground is saturated, and many stretches of the trail have been transformed into a running stream, a great feature in Cassie's mind. She took full advantage of every bit of water, which seemed to invigorate her 12-year-old bones.

The DJs also saw lots of new growth, including some "giant" plants that had sprung up along one six foot section of the trail.