Friday, January 29, 2010

Weekday at Burney's

Two years ago last week Miranda and I found ourselves on the doorstep of the Grand Canyon in the middle of a big winter snowstorm. I had just been to the canyon that summer and it was amazing to see how different everything looked under a blanket of snow. That trip got me hooked on finding more scenic winter wonderlands. My attention turned to Yosemite, one of the most beautiful places on earth that is only a few hours away and a frequent recipient of snow. I bookmarked the live webcam page and weather reports waiting for the right time to strike. Unfortunately the park service's tire chain requirement for snowy conditions (an absolute no-no according to the Audi owner's manual) made me hesitant to make the journey. And so I missed winter 2008 and then winter 2009, kicking myself in regret every time I looked at the fresh snow on the webcams.

After pondering my options, renting a 4x4, buying snow tires, getting a whole new car (not!) I found a simple solution. Skip Yosemite and head north to Burney Falls. I didn't know the falls existed until googling waterfall pictures after our trip to the columbia river gorge last summer. I found a pic of the falls in snow, mapped out the easy 4 hour drive, then waited for the right weather. Although I'd hoped that 'right weather' would be on a sunday so Mir could go too, the forecasts showed a good storm on sunday and monday clearing by tuesday morning. Hopefully that would give me snowy photos without becoming a snowy photographer.

I set the alarm for 4:30am, got to Redding by sunrise, passed thru the tail end of the snowstorm on the peaks about 20 miles from Burney, and pulled up to the park just as the ranger was plowing a path to the highway. The only part I didn't plan well was forgetting to bring small bills with me (trying to force a pay envelope with 32 quarters in it thru the tiny pay slot wasn't happening) Unfortunately most of that snow I drove thru had skipped over the falls while the mist from the falls kept the snow from collecting at the base of the falls.

Burney Falls from the top of the trail:

Burney Falls from the bottom:

The falls looked like something you'd see on Hawaii or Fiji and not in the middle of snow covered California mountains.

The amount of water flowing over the falls was almost deafening. For every shot like this i had two that turned out like this

I was a little sad I didn't get any great snowy waterfall shots. The trail just a hundred yards downstream of the falls had a nice blanket on it.

The best part of the trip was something I hadn't expected. When I told the park ranger it was my first time to the falls she said she'd go ahead and plow the road all the way down to the lake in case I wanted to check it out. I didn't think anything of it but as I was leaving I thought it would be stupid to drive all that way and not at least see what was down there. Except for some melting snow dripping off the boat dock into the lake it was dead silent there. Quite a contrast from the falls. I walked around a bit in the silence then noticed I had a companion.
This was the first time I'd seen a fox in the wild, plenty of coyotes but never a fox. Interesting fact; the grey fox is the only member of the dog family that can climb trees (well except for that youtube dog) Seeing my first fox got me excited. I'd read that eagles spend the winter in the area as well. Could I get my winter waterfall and bird nerd fix in the same day? I scanned the tree line around the lake and there it was, about 800 yards away

I had just enough time to get out the 400 and 2x before the eagle left its perch and snatched a meal from the lake, cropped in as tight as I could go.


I thought about hiking around the lake to get a closer look at the bird. But I was so content finally getting to see one not in captivity that I decided to leave it alone on the quiet lake and just go home happy. Even though the waterfall and eagle pics are far from award winning getting to see so many new things in one day was very rewarding. I'm still going to keep my eye on that weather forecast, though. And if the right storm comes thru I'm definitely making the trip back.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

A photogenic New Year

A few days after Christmas I headed down to Fairfield to go hiking in Rockville Park. Along the way I stopped in Vacaville again to explore the open space I'd found before. It's amazing how photogenic such a small park can be. Here's another lone oak with a large boulder in front of it.



For New Year's Eve Mir and I took a few friends out to the overlook on Treasure Island to watch the San Francisco fireworks over the Bay Bridge. Yet another photogenic location that never disappoints.



A new year requires new adventures so last Sunday Mir and I headed out to Point Reyes to try a hike down to Alamere Falls. Unfortunately a late start and a disagreement between Miranda's stomach and the twisty road that is Highway 1 conspired to cut our adventure short at Stinson Beach. A walk on the beach and a stop at the ice cream shop left us with enough time to get back to Muir Beach and do some exploring before sunset. Miranda got ot play in the secret sea anemone and starfish hideout

before I set up for a nice sunset shot.


Here's the shallow part of the mini-river flowing onto the beach that I was standing in to get that shot.


I'd been to Muir Beach several times but never at sunset. It was nice to find another familiar spot still held beautiful surprises.