Lisa Krieger’s latest Wanderlust report covers ground trodden many times over around here. She starts at Grant County Park and ranges over to the Skyline Boulevard open space preserves.

While the pioneers who toiled on our old family farms are long gone, they left poignant traces of their hard work. Some are easy to see, such as the Picchetti Winery at Cupertino’s Picchetti Ranch Open Space or the Victorian ranch house at San Jose’s Joseph D. Grant County Park. Others — a broken fence line, a crumbling rock wall, an aging olive tree — require a more observant eye. Each has a story to tell:

Visitors to Monte Bello Open Space Preserve can envision a ridgeline once dotted with cattle belonging to Black Mountain Ranch, Stevens Creek Road Ranch, Monte Bello Ranch and others.

Walk the Canyon Trail to see an ancient walnut orchard, its 30 trees gnarled and covered with lichens. If squirrels haven’t snatched them all, the lucky hiker can find a tasty nut in the leaf debris. Continue on this trail to arrive at the former site of the 694-acre Black Mountain Ranch home, bunkhouse and barn.

Gary Reyes’ pictures here.

Here’s a video Reyes and Krieger collaborated on: (Has an obnoxious ad at the beginning)