Saturday, March 12, 2016

March Rain Falls

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I waited for the rain to let up at home in San Francisco, checked the weather radar, then drove up to Mt. Tam to see the water flowing. Get it while I can.



It started raining again once I was on the mountain. I parked above Laurel Dell and faced the car into the wind so I could enjoy being in the middle of the storm while remaining warm and dry. It wasn't long before the rain let up and I took my chances. There was no possibility of using an umbrella up on Bolinas Ridge, but the wind wasn't too bad once I got down to the creek.



It didn't actually rain while I was down there, but I needed the umbrella to protect my camera under the dripping forest.



It's always a treat to see the falls really going off. I saw two more banana slugs eating lichen, but I didn't try to photograph them this time. They don't extend their eye-stalks all the way out because the branchy lichen recoils and jitters after they try to rasp some into their mouth.



Kind of cluttered, but I wanted to show the falls through a "normal" 50mm lens.



The rushing water was so loud that I kept being surprised to turn around and find someone standing a few feet away from me. Quite a few people hiked down to check out the falls.



Back up topside I couldn't resist walking among the rolling green hillsides. I might have to shoot this vantage point again some clear day at sunset while the grass remains green.



Looking out over the vista point at McKennan Gulch I could see more rain heading inbound, and I just got back to my car in time to stay dry. I love the green of March on Mt. Tam, before the grass gets tall and the thistles come out. Maybe we'll have a good bloom of sky lupine on the hills this year.

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