Millard Canyon Falls

Just north of Altadena is a great little hike called the Millard Canyon Trail.  I met up with my friend who suggested this hike for what is normally about 1.5 miles hike roundtrip, but today it was more like 3 or 4 miles with some significant elevation gain in the early going.  The recent rains had caused sufficient damage to the roads and the parking lot that the entry road was closed to motor traffic.

The good news is that the rains also made the falls much very picturesque.  I’ve seen a few pictures of the falls online and it is little more than a trickle in most of the images.  But today, it was a full-fledged 50′ waterfall!

I eagerly set up my tripod and pulled out my camera only to find that I had taken the tripod mount off of my camera!  Bummers.  So I had to make do and simply rest the camera on the tripod and hope that I could hold it steady as I snapped my long exposures.  I think they came out fine despite not having a rigid mount.

I hope you enjoy today’s images.

Millard Canyon Falls

A mid-trail cascade

Temescal Canyon – Second Attempt

As you may recall, I had a post about my first attempt to see the Temescal Canyon waterfall.  I wasn’t able to get past the creek due to the recent rainfall.  Today, I went back and was able to get up to the falls before sunrise.

I had started off at 6:10AM so it was still dark and I have to admit that I got a bit sketched on my hike.  I saw a coyote in the parking lot – that didn’t bother me too much.  But the first 1/4 mile of the trail from the paved road was pretty muddy and squishy.  I was just concentrating on my footing when an owl or some other big bird flapped its wings and flew by me from about 6 feet away.  That really got my heart rate going!

By the time I got to the falls, the sky provided enough light to get some shots using a slow shutter.  Here are my results.  I hope you like them.

Temescal Canyon Waterfall

A Temescal Canyon Cascade

A serene pool downstream from the waterfall

I thought it might be fun to show you the part of the path today where I was stopped on my first attempt to the falls.  What a difference the rain makes!

What it looked like today

What it looked like on February 6th

Temescal Canyon – First Attempt

A friend of mine suggested the Temescal Canyon waterfall as a subject for one of my 365 photos.  I figured that if I went when there was some rain that I might get a little more water going down the falls for a more dramatic photo.

Well, it turns out that if you get too much rain, there is a bit of a flash flood that blocks the trail to the waterfall (I’ve never been up on this particular hike).  So when I got to the water that blocked my progress, I stopped there and took a picture.  On the way back down the hill, I snapped one more of a nice part wooden fence that runs along the creek.

As for the water shots, I did drive by the beach to see if it would be worth a go-out.  It wasn’t.  It was choppy and crumbly with heavy onshore winds.

The end of the road

Wooden Fence