After a few days, however, the weather started to improve and the colors started to brighten. Our San Diego friends, Nance and Mark, arrived for a few days, and we hit the trails. We did the old standbys, first Pine Mountain in the morning, drove down to Jackson for lunch, then Mt. Willard in the afternoon. The next day we went a little higher, up to Dome Rock, and down past Hitchcock Falls, with a slight delay for an extraction at the Crack of Dome. The weather was chilly, but clearing, and the colors were starting to bloom.