Leon Turnbull Photography

This past weekend I went back to Table Mountain in Oroville once more, this time to visit Beatson Falls. My goal was to be there at sunrise, and that meant I had to start hiking in the dark. It is interesting hiking cross country on Table Mountain in the dark. There are no trails to follow. The major concern is avoiding the cow dung, easy enough to do in the daylight (if you are paying attention), but definitely a challenge to do in the dark. With my headlamp though, I think I managed to avoid all the large brown obstacles. I was hoping I would not run into any groups of killer cows in the dark but that was not to be. I came across a couple such groups, but fortunately they scattered as I approached. The one other concern in the dark is getting lost. It is hard enough to find your way in the daylight. But with my GPS in hand, I did not really have any problems. The one big problem on the way to Beatson Falls is a ravine that you need to cross. It was a bit tricky in the dark, but I managed.

I arrived at Beatson Falls just a few minutes before sunrise. But I really needed to be there about 15 minutes earlier. The light from the rising sun made for an incredibly difficult exposure. Together with the wind blowing my tripod and the long distance from my view point to the falls, it was definitely a challenge. So, I am not completely happy with this photo, but it was the best of the shots that I took.

I did not visit any of the other waterfalls in the vicinity of Beatson Falls. I knew that they would be just trickling, since we have not had any recent rains. Plus, the sun was fully out, so I wouldn’t get any decent shots anyway. Nonetheless, I did have a very pleasant morning outing in Oroville.