High voltage powerlines and towers. Original public domain image from Flickr
Operating completly "off the grid" U.S. Department of Agriculture cost-share rancher Ned Woods installation of solar panels to use solar energy to power electric well pump that draws water from hundreds of feet below the surface and pushes the water along miles of pipe up hundred’s of fee of elevation to a system of automated remote watering troughs and ground storage tanks. Rolling, grassy hills and secluded, shady canyons characterize the terrain. The park is surrounded by the cities of Lafayette, Pleasant Hill, Orinda; Walnut Creek, Concord, Martinez and surrounding industrial areas. From Briones Peak, the highest point in the park, there are panoramic views of Mount Diablo and the Diablo Valley to the east, the Sacramento River and Delta to the north, the East Bay hills and Mt. Tamalpais to the west, and Las Trampas Regional Wilderness to the south. See, www.ebparks.org/Assets/_Nav_Categories/Parks/Maps/Briones. The entire park is a watershed that leads to man-made stock ponds for the livestock; Briones Reservoir and San Pablo Reservoir that provides drinking water San Francisco East Bay Area; and conservation areas of the San Francisco Bay. For more about how Ned Wood beat the heat with USDA, please see: www.nrcs.usda.gov/wps/portal/nrcs/detail/ca/home/?cid=NRC... USDA Photo by Lance Cheung.