At the end of September, summer was officially over, but summer weather here lasts well into fall.  Chamise regrowth was strong and healthy, and the buckeye leaves were brown and ready to fall, revealing the fruits:

The yellow hills allowed the new sprouts of the chaparral shrubs to stand out sharply:

Two wildflowers: western goldenrod (Euthamia occidentalis) along the trail, and annual willow-herb (Epilobium canum) in the dry creek bed.  Three-leaf sumac (Rhus trilobata) was growing happily along the trail; it is a close relative of poison oak, and like that relative, grows back vigorously after fires.

Until this visit, I had only seen western fence lizards in the reserve, so I was excited to spot a speedy western skink:

I saw far more spider webs along the sides of the trail on this visit, especially funnel webs as below: