Foggy Falls
As I drove up Hwy 50 in the early morning I encountered some very intense fog. I literally could not see 10 feet and I had to slow down to under 10mph. Seriously is it April or January? The only other time I remember fog so thick was driving up the Malahat out of Victoria BC. As I approached Pollock Pines I stopped at the Shell station there. Making friendly chit chat, the lady there put me in my place. “You think this is bad? This is nothing. Sometimes you cannot even see the tulips just outside the window there.”. Well what she said may be true but in my defense it was not quite so foggy right there in Pollock Pines as it was on the highway around Camino which is where I had to slow right down.
Regardless, my primary concern at the moment was that I might not even be able to SEE the waterfall I was planning to go to. My plan was to shoot Mill Creek Falls from across the canyon, not go right up to it. It would be pointless to go on a six mile hike and then not even be able to see the waterfall. Did I get up out of bed for nothing? Should I turn around now and go home?
I decided to just drive up to Ice House Rd and make my decision once I got there. When I arrived at the trailhead the fog had dissipated enough that I thought it would be good to proceed on the hike. But as I got ready to start hiking, within five minutes the fog rolled in again. Oh and it started raining too. Nonetheless I continued on.
As I hiked down the road I also had a pleasant surprise. I found a bonus waterfall which I could see from the road on White Hall Creek. It was off the main road though so I decided to try to get down to it on my way back (which I did – I LOVE finding new waterfalls).
Mill Creek Falls is not a new waterfall. I have known about it for a long time. You can see it in the spring from Ice House Rd off in the distance. You can sort of see it from Hwy 50 at White Hall. But getting to it is a problem. My friend (no names mentioned, Rob) got up to it by trespassing. I have not figured out how to get up to it without trespassing, though I think it may be possible … somehow.
Quite by accident I found a way to get fairly close to it from across the canyon. I was initially looking for a way to shoot it from a distance from Ice House Rd. From my vantage point I noticed a road leading down the canyon to a point directly across from the falls. I decided to follow it down. That is how my present journey unfolded. When I got down there I found a wide open field with excellent views across the canyon and of the waterfall. Indeed it was possible to descend the hill practically all the way down to Hwy 50 and White Hall. I descended to a good spot but not all the way down. Although Mill Creek Falls is not a spectacular or a photogenic waterfall by any means, the fog layers above and below the falls certainly added an interesting and marvelous dynamic to the falls. I did carry my big lens on this hike and did take some shots with it but I liked this one taken with my 24-105 lens the best.
More info on Mill Creek Falls:
http://waterfallswest.com/waterfall.php?id=699