On Saturday, I hiked into the Spenceville Wildlife Area, which is about 25 miles outside Marysville, CA. The destination: Beale Falls. It was a nice hike, rolling hills and some rocky areas. There were a few other hikers out there, but it wasn't too bad. The best part about it, of course, is its price... free.
About half of the trail is really an old road that led to the towns of Spenceville and Waldo, neither of which exist any longer. There was an old copper mine that was closed in the 1900s, and when they left the place, they just left the environment a rotten mess. Recently there was a cleanup done, and some replanting, so that entire area is closed off
Once at the end of the gravel road, you walk through a metal gate that takes you to a path through beautiful green, rolling hills. I don't have those pictures yet, but I will in a day or so
As the trail winds around, it goes by Dry Creek.
Sunday, April 20, 2003
This spot was wonderful, and gave me a chance to use my new Sekonic L-358. While my camera seemed to think it couldn't handle f/32 at 1/2 second, the handheld meter in ambient mode didn't find any problem with it at all.
A little farther upstream, there was a nice swimming hole bordered by rocks. There were also a few more photo opportunities as well.
Just beyond this swimming hole, the path took an uphill turn for about 1/4 mile. On the way up the final path towards the falls, I passed some other people. Just before one woman started to pass me, she stopped dead in her tracks and yelled, "SNAAAAAKE!"
I told her he was just greeting everyone that walked past. Right after I took this picture, one of the guys walking with her pulled out his camera, but by the time he was ready, the snake was long gone.
The falls weren't quite as high as Feather Falls, but nonetheless they were still impressive. I tried to scale the steep rock bank down to the bottom of the falls, but it was a lot steeper than it looked and I came back up. One of my water bottles also managed to fall down the small canyon as well. I hate accidentally littering when you can't pick up the litter! Oh well.
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