Geology day

The formations in the left foreground are volcanic. They are left from Roundtop, a volcano that blew itself to smithereens in the Oakland Hills a very long time ago... I have to check the dates, but it was many millenia before peoplewere here.
Mt. Diablo in the distance was forced upward by pressure between two faultlines way back then. There are volcanic rocks on it, but it isn't a volcano.
You might get an idea of how dry it is in Northern California. There are lots of dry grasses that grew because of the heavy rain in the spring. We're a little worried about wildfires, which are usually more of an issue in October.