Rainin'

When I left SC at about 4pm, I only assumed that the afternoon showers had passed with the nasty, windy, wet hour that had ended around 3.

I was wrong.

I saw the lightening and felt the thunder pass behind Mt baldy from the second I stepped onto the first meadow of the East Inlet trail. I was not afraid of a little stormage (though I did consider Judy's overreaction when and IF she found that I had suck out a storm on the mountain)...
A pair of disappointingly blurry photos of a small, split creek far onto the trail were having me attempt my return for a re-shoot. I watched for my fox-buddy on the trail, but he never showed. Instead, my hike in was occupied by the sights and sounds generated by the nearing storms...

......'did find some pretty cool mushrooms, too! I was photographing one of those colorful amenita things when a couple walked past. They questioned me about the "ball" that I seemed to be so involved with. I was happy to share my limited knowledge of the fascinating fungus, but I think hey lost interested the second they learned that it was actually a mushroom... freaks!

I spent about ten minutes, 40 exposures, at the small falls. It was not until I went to take my first pic. that I realized that I'd forgotten the small tripod which I put on the bumper of my parked truck with the intentions of packing.

The water poured from behind several dripping stones onto a shallow, colourful pool. A little green fern danced in front of the phenomenon. I braced myself on a pile of wet rocks and logs and was able to take photos ranging in exposure times from 1/6 sec. to 3 sec. Many photos were blurred until I got into a more comfortable position in which my arms were braced on another log and my knee, and I was able to exhale to get a long string of nice crisp, clean, clear photos!!!
TAKE THAT MRS DINESON! (school teacher who deemed it impossible to take a quality photo by hand with a shutter speed under 1/60..)

A sudden clap of thunder broke my trance. The bolt was disturbingly loud and when I was able to summon the strength that it took to stop clicking the shutter, I realized just how dark the sky was. It wasn't very nice-lookin', but I'm sure that it contributed to the photos being as smooth as they seem to be (if it were lighter or sunny, I would've had a hard time getting the water to flow)

I was on the trail again. I began to walk further in, but became discouraged with a series of similar lightening strikes. They were falling on and behind the mountain to the right of Craig, just behind me.

I walked slowly back through the terrain I'd already visited. ... just strolled over the dirt and rock. It became increasingly dark as the navy-blue clouds intruded. The lightening continued, and seemed to spread to everywhere, though I never really felt threatened. (probably shouldve)

It started to sprinkle off and on, and without the sun I felt like I'd lost track of time.

A something caught my eye just to the left of the trail and only a few meters up. I had no clue what it could have been, and when I unconsciously turned to it, it was behind a tree. It had not moved, but I had.

.....the something reappeared as I continued walking. it was surprisingly large, but was obviously the thing that'd captured my attention. Its eyes struck me and it's huge ears sprang up. The big mule deer flinched when it saw me, but I kept my pace and the deer remained on the ground- just eight or nine feet off the trail. The deer was very alert- he never broke eye contact with me, and his ears stood as erect as his little antlers.

He looked very comfy under the bright spruce umbrella. I would have loved to have stopped and taken a photo, and I even began changing the settings on my camera to accommodate his dry, shady spot under the wet trees.

it seemed wrong to stop though, and scare the thing off. I didnt. The lightening slowed as it grew distant, and I wandered back over the relaxed meadow and through a silent forest.

The little Adam's falls side step tempted me. I jogged down the hill and slowed near the water before it became too fast. When I found the falls, I slipped down a steep wall and found a thin ledge overhanging the water. It was damp, but not wet enough to be slippery.

There I spent a few minutes watching and photographing the cascading blues, greens and oranges. these rapids were much better in the sun, when they were more colorful; They were beautiful now.

It began to rain- hard. I began to make the tricky ascent again- 'slung my camera to my back.

i only had about 10 feet.

I slipped once, and busted my shin on a jagged hunk of granite. By the time I reached the top, the rain had stopped again. My leg throbbed, but it didn't hurt enough to keep me from walking back through a rugged creek bed. Found some more cool mushrooms!.... a gorgeous hawks wing and one with a shaggy orange cap and stalk.

I returned to the lodge lookin' like a stray dog, Im sure; Judy never saw me, or got the opportunity to lecture me, and I scrambled to clean up before she did! (dont tell!)