The landscape here differed sharply from what later generations came to know. During the Anza Expedition of 1776, the pine forests across the reservoir and on San Pablo Ridge were absent, while oak-bay woodlands filled the ravines much as they do now. In the spring of 1800, the open grassland was far richer than today and burst with colorful wildflowers. By the 1860s, Mediterranean grasses had largely replaced those flowers; these super-competitors can be managed by grazing or burning, but never eliminated. Although much diversity has been lost, the landscape still supports many species, and native wildflowers remain abundant in spring on the thin soils of the ridge rising south toward Vollmer Peak. San Pablo Creek, now dammed, once held so many salmon that people could fish by pitchfork, and early explorers reported elk herds in the thousands and grizzly bears foraging in large groups.