A hidden pool and other wonders - Fall Creek ROCKS
nature·@carlgnash·
0.000 HBDA hidden pool and other wonders - Fall Creek ROCKS
<h4>With a moment of zen video :) Plus a crazy insect and a water snake!</h4> <hr>  *the fam dam - @dillemma & @thingone front and center; @thingtwo and a mostly obscured Yeti the Dog in the background* We loaded up the trusty Suburu with our camping gear and headed up to Fall Creek on Thursday. Our A, B and C plans fell through as it turned out the entire section of the creek we were planning on camping in had been closed to camping! <div class="pull-left"> https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmexcLJsUELUX2bFUsFguTCv7DnNC5Ng94T2b1kXAAsFRL/Thing%20One%20marshmallow.jpg *@thingone's very first solo marshmallow roasting experience!* </div> You can normally camp wherever you want in the national forest but apparently the burn zone from the 2003 <a href="http://www.science.oregonstate.edu/~faberri/intro.html">Clark Creek</a> fire has been deemed too dangerous for camping since last season. We had no choice but to head back down the creek a bit to one of the established campgrounds and pay for a night in a campsite. Paying for camping in a campground rubs me the wrong way on a very deep level but we still had a blast for the evening of course :)  <hr> <h2>The next morning</h2> we broke camp early and headed up to our original Plan A spot in the burn zone. The area is still open for day use, and boy, did we use it all day Friday! <h2>A Nymph</h2> I found this interesting black and yellow spiked insect on one of the big boulders which block the old logging road that leads to our swimming hole. I believe it is a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymph_(biology)">nymph</a> of some sort, but I have not been able to identify the species. Any help in the comments?  *Hey lookit ma bokeh wut a fancy cell phone photograph*  *Classic "don't mess with me" coloration and cool looking spikey bits! Poisonous? Just a braggart? I don't know!*  *I am in lurv* <hr> <h2>We munched on salmon berries...</h2> and red huckleberries that lined the trail down to the swimming hole. <table> <tr> <td> https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmb2ArJUfQeMayMmQdHVfX5cbuJF5TNG2H6FLkfMbdLHyE/salmonberry.jpg </td> <td> https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmbWkRNZHqseN3Y9KfUZq21Ge3VVfa2b2q3Jqzp5Tpkwgs/red%20huckleberry2.jpg </td> </tr> </table> <hr> <h1>The Sun and the Shade</h1>  <h3>The Sun...</h3> We love this spot! An outcropping of basalt pinches the creek here and creates a small rapids at the upstream side of the swimming hole. A large sandy beach below the basalt outcrop gets full sun all day, staying light a good hour later than the camp ground where we stayed the night before. A shady side canyon carved by a small tributary stream flows into a series of pools that line the near side of the sandy beach before the tributary stream finally joins up with Fall Creek.  *Looking up the sandy beach at the basalt outcropping, @dillemma waving near the shadowy mouth of the side canyon*  *The view across the beach to the swimming hole with the basalt outcropping to the right - this is taken from the spot @dillemma was waving from above* @thingone spent a lot of time wading around in the string of shallow pools formed by the tributary stream where it flows into the sandy beach before finally joining up with Fall Creek proper.  *Yeti the Dog spent a lot of time making sure @thingone was safe whilst poking around :)* <h2>...and the Shade</h2> One of the magical things about this spot is the shady side canyon with its cool pools and trickling stream, beckoning with the promise of relief when the sun and the hot rocks and sand of the beach become too much to bear.  <h1>A Hidden Pool and your Moment of Zen Video</h1> Halfway down the steep dirt trail that descends the bluff to the beach, an overgrown and easily missed side-trail leads to a hidden pond. I say easily missed, because half way down the trail to the beach your attention is drawn to the deep green of the swimming hole beckoning below. Your moment of Zen video starts out with this vista, then follows the secret path around to the Hidden Pool. https://youtu.be/1aoIpRE2NJA <h4>How amazing is it</h4> to show your child a mystical place like this where the power of nature is so clearly felt?   *Hidden Pool - @thingone approved*  *Wildflower at the Hidden Pool*  *Looking down at the Hidden Pool from above up on the bluff* <h1>A large garter snake</h1> sunning on a rock was no match for the lightning speed and reflexes of @carlgnash the mighty hunter! I knew it would squirt me with a foul smelling musk when I picked it up, but I also knew what kind of joy this snake would bring @thingone. He *loves* snakes, and reptiles, and dinosaurs of course. But in the absence of a dinosaur up Fall Creek, a snake will do nicely!    <h2>Goodbye snake...</h2> https://youtu.be/2kRrtTCkz1g *All photos and videos taken by moi on a Samsung Galaxy S8 smart phone* [//]:# (!steemitworldmap 43.974573 lat -122.567319 long Sandy beach, swimming hole, side creek with pool d3scr)
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