THE LITTLEST ONE
This weekend was a disaster. Or it started out that way. I drove 110 miles to go on a hike to see a waterfall. It was a beautiful morning. The hike was good. I arrived down to the waterfall. It was completely dry. Not even a trickle. This was all just after a big storm. How could it possibly be dry? I was not expecting it be roaring, but I definitely expected it to be decent. After this hike, I had a second hike planned as well in the same area. However, I scrapped it. If the first waterfall was dry, the second one would likely be dry as well. I decided to just drive on back home, 110 miles.
I was feeling bummed, so I decided to redeem myself in the afternoon and go on another hike close to home. This one I knew would be flowing.
Going to this waterfall on a Saturday afternoon is iffy. I much prefer hiking here in the morning. There is only room for 4 cars to park at the trailhead. Well, I arrived at 1:30PM and there was exactly one space available for me. Thank you God for saving it for me. I saw all the other hikers coming up the hill as I was going down. One of them asked me if one could backpack down here on this trail. I thought that was a weird question, but afterwards it donned on me that he saw my big camera pack, and must have thought I was backpacking, not day hiking. Ha ha. I also noticed a LOT of small burned areas along the trail. It was as if people were having campfires in various spots all along the trail. After the first few, I realized this was some sort of official burning (ie. not random kids doing it). But why? Why would the park rangers do all this burning of wood along the trail? I can think of three very good reasons not to do this: (1) It violates Leave No Trace principles, (2) It could easily start a forest fire, and (3) It is just plain stupid. I don’t get it. Someone please explain it to my little brain.
I have been to American Canyon Creek Falls many times before. It is a fairly easy hike. It is a little thing, but it is a pretty little thing, and very unique. I love this littlest waterfall. I did not really want to go back to American Canyon this weekend, I would have much preferred better success in the morning on the two different hikes, but nonetheless I enjoyed myself down at the littlest falls. I hiked back up the hill, arriving at the car just before dark, I drove home, ate my spaghetti dinner, and watched my Vancouver Canucks move into first place after beating the Sharks. Yeah. It may have been a bad morning, but the afternoon and evening were great.