Sunday, February 26, 2017

Carson Falls

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It was a beautiful morning for a hike up to Carson Falls. Fairfax-Bolinas Road is still closed at Azalea Hill, so I had to hike up the Pine Mountain Fire Road instead of using my preferred route through the woods up Liberty Gulch. The whole valley above the falls was still in shade and covered in frost when I arrived. The falls themselves weren't going off in any big way, and the light was quite uneven, so I didn't even pull my camera out.



From a high rocky perch I glassed the falls for foothill yellow-legged frogs and saw only one. I hope there were plenty more out of sight. 



As I continued down the trail to the lower falls I bonded a little bit with some of the trailside trees.



They seemed happy to have some human company too.



The view of the lower falls in 2008 was considerably less obstructed than it is now.



As you can see, the flow volume, while nice, isn't anything special despite all the rain.



There was lots of serpentine spring beauty in bloom.



This is the view looking back toward Azalea Hill and Mt. Tam from Pine Mountain Fire Road, with spring beauty blooming like crazy just off the trail.

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