Hiked Tuesday, August 21. I came back here intending to finish my hike to Mt. Zion, but got distracted by some pretty flowers. ;D
My initial plan was to head down the Gabrielino Trail, turn left on the Lower Winter Creek Trail, head on up to Mt. Zion, then return on the Upper Winter Creek Trail. Then I decided maybe I would walk around and pass the waterfall and see if I had time to reach Mt. Zion that way. Realistically, I would not have made that, but I did want to see some new trail.
Instead, after chatting with a few folks along the way, I just got the desire to see Sturtevent Falls, again. Passed a boy, fly fishing. I did not say anything, but I did not approve. The water is so warm and shallow that the rainbow trout they were trying to catch are already terribly stressed. Even "catch and release," the chances of killing a fish seem just too likely to be ethical.
Continued on to the falls. Not much water, as expected. The upper parts of the falls were practically invisible, as a thin sheet of water fell down towards the lower tiers. Down in that lower area, the water was more visible, as the cracks of the rock funnel what little water there is into a thin ribbon.
After only a few moments, I turned around. I was still planning to do some exploring up above Sturtevent Canyon. So it was downstream for 1/2 mile, to where the trail heads out of the canyon. I took the foot route (as opposed to the horse route), which winds back above the falls, high on the side of the cliff.
There are several fair-sized falls in the gorge above the main Sturtevent Falls. Some California Fuschia bloomed near one. I shot a crazy number of shots there, trying without success to get the exposure right.
After about fifteen minutes of this, I decided it was time to go back. Returned the way I came. Figure about five miles for the day.
Extremely tired this past week, so I didn't get around to posting this for several days. Have another hike since then, too. I'd also like to insert some links to previous hikes to Sturtevant, to give you an idea of how low the water has become in just the past few months.
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