Brice Creek

So back to vacation . . .The next day Kit left, then we had a relaxing 4th of July and then only one day left to do something before Devon’s scheduled departure.  After a brief discussion we settled on, naturally, another hike.  Ann had recently been to Brice Creek again and that was our destination.  Well, it was and it wasn’t.

We set the GPS to head us over to Brice Creek and although I had been there before (remembered because, in a brain fart moment, I reached my hand through some poison oak to point out a particularly attractive native flower to Ann . . . and despite immediately trying to wash it off with creek water, I wound up with the the worst case of poison oak I’ve ever had) it had been a few years.  While driving we were chatting away and I wasn’t paying much attention to the road and at one point mentioned to Ann that I really didn’t recall crossing a bridge before, but the GPS said we still had a few miles to go so . . . .  When we arrived, Ann said, “This isn’t where we’re supposed to be.”  It dawned on us that we were at the upper trail head instead of the lower trail head.  Instead of going back, we decided to head down instead of up the creek and see what we could find.

It didn’t take long until we found some interesting rocks and small falls that we could scramble down to.  Ann quickly started shooting.  I made my way around to a couple of places, tried a few compositions but ultimately didn’t click the shutter.  It’s strange how a place can excite you, but when you look through the camera, nothing.

So I made my way around a small stream, and then down the creek a bit and decided that I just had to start the day with a shot, any shot so . . .

As I backed away from this shot, I noticed a small pool to the right that offered a better view down the creek.

As I framed the image, I noticed some movement towards the bottom of the frame and realized that there were pond skaters dancing around the pool, so I started composing the image trying to include the shadows of the bugs.

Eventually, I turned the camera directly to them and started shooting away.

One of the things I love about photography is that, once you’re out and you let go of any preconceived ideas of what you want to photograph, there’s a whole world of discovery just waiting for you!  And if you don’t really see anything, you’re still outside in a beautiful environment.

As I made my way back up to the trail I took a photograph of Ann taking a photograph.

I’m glad we stopped at this first place because we had a destination - the lower falls.  We never made it!  After about 4+ miles down the trail (the battery on our GPS died and I didn’t have the hiking book because . . . we had our GPS), and not knowing how much further it would be before we got to a place where we were familiar, we stopped at a nice little area to take some photos and turn around.

The water had lovely shades of green in it, so I climbed down the rocks to see what I could get.  In the end, it was the abstractions of color caused by the water that I found most interesting.

Ann and Devon were pretty patient with me while I was pointing my camera down at the water.  Of course there was a lot of laughter and jokes about me falling in, but I managed to keep myself dry.  When I turned around, I realized I’d been at it long enough for them to make themselves comfortable.

We turned back for the long hike back, stopped to have the lunch we brought and decided that the next time we come to the upper trail head, we stay at the first set of rocks/falls and take a side trip to some nice falls (.5 miles away) not far from the trailhead.  If we want to see the lower falls, we just need to be paying attention enough to stop at the lower trailhead.