Hike 2011.023 -- Eaton Canyon

Tromped into Eaton Canyon again, to see how the waterfall looked. Tuesday, April 5.

Late start. I didn't leave home until after 6pm, and necessarily planned for a quick visit to Eaton Canyon Falls. Trip turned out taking a little longer than planned. The problem was that if you're coming back late and it's dark, it's very difficult to see the rocks you were hopping along on the way in. I ended up taking my boots off for about 1/2 of the trip back through the heart of the canyon before putting the boots on again for the last few crossings and the mile along the flat trail back to the nature center.

The darkening skies meant slow shutter speeds, so some of my flower shots got smeared by my own movement. Several of the waterfall shots, also. And the waterfall shots that were not smeared, the water took on a purplish tinge. I'm not sure if using the twilight setting on the camera would have addressed that problem.

On the pictures of the waterfall where I braced myself on a rock, I got some nicely veiled water. Note the picture at the top of this post, for example.

The good news (in terms of getting back late and not finding the gate locked) was that they're doing docent training on Tuesday nights, still. That's the program I wanted to sign up for until I had a bout with the flu that killed my enthusiasm for a few weeks back when the classes were just going to get started.

Also, I got to repay a favor from last year. One day last year, I came down to Eaton Canyon from Mt Wilson waaaay late. Hadn't even noticed the sign at Pinecrest, saying they lock the gate at dusk. That was going to mean a two mile detour, except I was lucky enough to catch a ride from the nature center back up to Pinecrest. Tonight, I was able to save a young couple one of those miles of walking. Of course, they had just come back from the falls, so they weren't as beat as I was, last year. Still, one extra mile of walking is definitely preferable to two.