What with all the rain we've been having lately, it seemed like a good weekend for visiting waterfalls. I'd been planning to go on a previously-scheduled hike to Alamere Falls (at Point Reyes) on Sunday, but, what with the weather forecast looking iffy, I decided Thursday evening to do a hike of my own, at Big Basin, on Saturday (which seemed less likely than Sunday to get rained out).
Saturday: Big Basin - Berry Creek Falls loop
The day started out grayish, but not threatening. The group gathered in Los Gatos at 9 AM, and carpooled up to the park. My original plan for the day was to take the loop clockwise for a change - that's the customary direction, but I generally go counterclockwise to avoid climbing up the exposed portion of the Sunset Trail during the heat of the afternoon, a consideration which didn't seem to apply on this occasion.
As it turned out, there was the possibility that two people might turn back after the first uphill bit, so I figured I'd better take my usual route, the better to point out landmarks for any emergency escapes. Thus, we took the usual little connecting trails to the Sunset Trail, and paused at the Middle Ridge Road to see if everyone was still with us.
Well, everyone had survived the first hill, but by this time we'd figured out that we'd be playing leapfrog with a herd of Boy Scouts if we stayed on the Sunset Trail. So, time for Plan C! We took the little connecting trail (which none of us had tried before) over to the Skyline to the Sea Trail, and proceeded clockwise from there.
The little creeklets were flowing well.
(As usual, click the thumbnails for larger images.)
It's definitely been good fungus weather.
Good for banana slugs, too. We saw lots of 'em crossing the trails.
Trillium in bloom. We saw a lot of these, too.
(Not to be confused with Trillian.)
A nice mini-waterfall along the way.
Another little side-creeklet.
Little fungi with a lot of character.
Oddly-colored little fungi on the end of a log.
Fern-covered rock in midstream.
Yet another side-creeklet.
Aha! Berry Creek Falls at last!
The view from our lunch stop. Click here for a silent movie.
Ferns in the creek, on the way upstream toward Silver Falls. (Sorry, no photos of Silver Falls this time - there's no longer a good place to stand to get a photo.)
Yet another little fungus.
And another.
Golden Cascade.
More unusual fungi.
One thing about seasons with weather... sometimes there are trees across the trail.
Here's the group crossing the fallen tree.
And yet more fungus.
Sunday: Point Reyes - Alamere Falls
Sunday morning came, and I wasn't too sore from the previous day's hiking, and the weather didn't look too bad, so I headed up to the carpool point in Redwood City to see if anyone else was actually going. One other person was already there... and others gradually filtered in, most of them hoping nobody else would be there so they could just go home. Multiple people having turned up, however, we couldn't chicken out, and so we proceeded to carpool up to Point Reyes - which turns out to be a long drive; an 8:45 nominal meeting time in Redwood City for an 11:00 hike time turned out to be just about right.
Many North Bay folks (including the leader) joined us at the trailhead, where the weather still wasn't looking very threatening - I suggested that the rain would wait two hours, to allow us to get as far from the trailhead as possible.
Random view south along the coast.
I'll have to go back in summer to see what kind of berries grow on these vines - looks like blackberry plants, but with pink flowers. Or, I suppose, I could consult a book or something.
Seems to be iris season already.
There are various nice ponds along the way.
Some parts of the trail were a mixture of water and sloppy mud. The local wildlife seemed to appreciate this more than we did.
There's some water in its proper place, i.e., not on the trail.
Fungi here, too.
Ah! Here we are, heading down the (seasonally unmaintained) trail to the falls. About this time, the drizzle started. Also the wind.
The last bit of the creek, before it goes over the edge. The wind had gotten gusty enough by now that standing near cliffs seemed like a bad idea, lest I also go over the edge.
A mini-fall on the way down to the main cliff.
There's the real waterfall. I guess it's best viewed from the beach, but, what with it being high tide, and the surf being relatively up, going down to the beach didn't seem like a good idea. For details, well, it's silent movie time again!
Also, by this time, the drizzle had turned into definite rain. Between rain and the lack of beach down there, the original plan for a beach picnic was ruled out, so we headed back along the trail in search of a sheltered spot for lunch. I did snap a couple more pictures on the way back, but, alas, the GIMP lacks a filter for undoing the effects of water droplets on the camera lens.
Eventually we made it back to the cars, by which time our outer layers were well soaked.
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