Return To The Table
The biggest storm of the season gave us anywhere from four to eight (or more) feet of snow in the Tahoe area. It is a bit early to tell but I would guess that this one storm raised our snow pack from 30 to 60 percent of normal for the year. We could really use at least one more big storm like this.
Oroville picked up about six inches of rain this week and it seemed to me that the waterfalls on Table Mountain would be flowing beautifully. So this is where I headed on Saturday morning.
By Saturday morning the rain had stopped and it was actually supposed to be sunny. That was not really good as I was hoping for overcast skies. I had planned a big nine mile hike to see many waterfalls. If it was sunny I would only get to one or two before the sun was up too high to photograph.
I actually saw quite a bit of wildlife on this hike. A coyote in the city, which was quite strange. A jack rabbit, while I was hiking to the falls in the dark. I spooked a deer along the cliffs at Beatson Falls and as it bounded away from me I was just hoping it would not lose its footing and plunge off the cliff. Later I scared a hawk which was very close to me below the top of a cliff. And last but certainly not least I saw the rare but dreaded and ferocious bovine creature.
Yes there were plenty of cows I passed by as I hiked up to Beatson in the dark. Not unusual of course but there were quite a lot more of them this time. And they were mad at me because I woke them up! They were honking at me (as only cows can do) constantly as I passed them by. Have I mentioned before that I hate cows? I mean … I like to eat them. But that is about the only thing I like about them. As I approached the crossing of Beatson Creek I realized why there were so many more of them. There was a new corral structure there and they were all hanging out in that general area. Fortunately I was able to find an area free of cows where I could cross the creek. A lot more water in the creek this time and I could not just rock hop across, I had to take off my boots and wade.
It took a bit longer to get to Beatson Falls than I expected and I was late for sunrise. It was good that the sunrise was not colorful cuz I would have missed it. One of these days I’ll get a killer sunrise shot from this location. If the cows let me, of course.
Beatson Falls was flowing very well as I expected but some of the other lesser falls on Table Mountain were not flowing too well and I was a bit disappointed. They probably need another six inches of rain. Maybe next week.