June 22, 2013
I had been looking forward to today's adventure - an 8 mile run through Fall Creek State Park, with 1760 feet of climbing, followed by some fun time with Becky and Ezra exploring the lush creekside setting. It was a dark and damp day, with a touch of rain even - amazing for late June. I had to crank my little Lumix up to ISO 1600 - top setting - and unfortunately my photos suffered for it. Enjoy the thumbnails and be forgiving when you click on the full size images if you please...
a drag off my camelbak, and I'm ready to tackle Fall Creek |
I grabbed an arm's length shot, trying to get the nice waterfall on the left, ignoring the tree about to knock me out. Yes! Ran full bore into it while watching my footfall, knocking me on my keester, dazed but apparently OK |
A study in triangles - two redwoods, and a redwood of a lower limb |
Fall Creek has some very beautiful spots, including this waterfall, rendered in watercolor in Photoshop |
A refreshing pause |
The Mill site, good for pause and a photo |
The upper Fall Creek crossing. From here it gets steeper as I head up towards the Big Ben Tree at 1800 ft elevation |
Top of the run, at Big Ben tree. My new friend here had a full backpack and was doing my same route, as a hike, preparing for a week on the Pacific Crest Trail in August. |
Lost Camp. I've come to love this spot, for Lost Creek, and for the little Tibetan prayer flags that encircle a young redwood here. |
Yet it saddens me too, thinking of China's ongoing systematic destruction of Tibet and the home of the most gentle and humane of all religions |
Some welcome flat trail for a while after Lost Camp |
Then some more steep downhill, a right turn at the next junction, and the 19th century Lime kilns, leading down to this old narrow-guage rail cut |
Then back down to Fall Creek, and back to the parking lot, where I met Becky and Ezra |
Phase II of this adventure was some quality time with Becky and Ezra. Ezra's in maximum mind sponge mode at the tender age of 2, so the fun was to figure out how to tickle his curiosity...
The first challenge was to bring him back to the land of the conscious |
Actually, he perked up when he saw me, and the adventure begins, here with a bit of a river rock dance, all the more lively as my feet were quite tender. Photoshop'd as a watercolor |
A banana slug - Ezra loves 'em! This one was the slimiest ever. |
a new friend |
Bye Mr slug! |
A little sand cake with two "candles", brings a smile |
Meanwhile, we spotted the first ripe thimbleberries of the season |
except, I goofed and taught Ezra "Gooseberry" - which he got good at repeating, often! It became a total Grail quest - for "guuzbewies" |
The next 45 minutes we worked our way up and down the trails. Just like in cave-man days, we made a big deal whenever we found one, and got the little guy maximally excited before popping the tiny sweet thimbles in his mouth. |
well and properly berry'd up, he was a happy camper. |
It was a monumentally fun day |
