{"id":2184,"date":"2009-03-09T09:16:16","date_gmt":"2009-03-09T17:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/?p=2184"},"modified":"2009-03-09T09:16:16","modified_gmt":"2009-03-09T17:16:16","slug":"uvas-canyon-waterfalls-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tommangan.net\/twoheeldrive\/index.php\/2009\/03\/09\/uvas-canyon-waterfalls-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Uvas Canyon Waterfalls revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"

I’ve moved Uvas Canyon County Park<\/a> to the top of my list of parks to check out after four weekends of rain. Lots of other hikers will get the same idea if you go on a Saturday or Sunday, but the place is so unabashedly wonderful when the water’s gushing that you can deal with a few fellow waterfall-gawkers. <\/p>\n

My hike was fairly mild: 5.3 miles with just under 1,500 feet of elevation gain (terrain profile and GPS log at Everytrail.com<\/a>). I spent a lot of time dawdling with my Gorillapo<\/a>d and fiddling with the camera’s shutter speeds to get that prized waterfall-blur effect<\/a>. Let’s check out the pictures: <\/p>\n

\"Swanson<\/a> <\/p>\n

This is the little-used Swanson Creek Trall, an out-and-back to a little-known waterfall near the confluence of the Uvas and Swanson creeks Very nice and barely a quarter-mile from the parking lot. <\/p>\n

\"Unidentified<\/a><\/p>\n

The unidentified fall is up in the background. <\/p>\n

\"More<\/a><\/p>\n

Close-up of the water flow at the same point. <\/p>\n

\"Swanson<\/a><\/p>\n

Crossing the creek is out of the question when the water’s flowing strong, so you’re obliged to turn back. I took a side trail and climbed down between some rocks to grab this image of the Swanson Creek. <\/p>\n

\"Granuja<\/a><\/p>\n

Granuja Falls is the first attraction on the “Waterfall Loop.” It’s small but things get better. <\/p>\n

\"Black<\/a><\/p>\n

Black Rock Falls is one of the main attractions when the flow’s strong. I generally fall on my fanny when getting too close to the water. <\/p>\n

\"Upper<\/a><\/p>\n

Upper Falls is quite nice, too. <\/p>\n

\"Basin<\/a><\/p>\n

Basin Falls was the prettiest of the bunch yesterday.<\/p>\n

\"Trail<\/a><\/p>\n

The trek to Triple Falls sometimes seems hardly worth the effort, though the trail along this way bears a remarkable resemblance to a redwood forest (remarkable because there are no actual redwoods, and this is primarily South Bay oak-and-madrone country ). It feels damp and primordial like so many of the trails closer to the coast. <\/p>\n

\"Triple<\/a><\/p>\n

Triple Falls, as expected, rates lower on the spectacle meter but the sound of water pouring down the canyon is all you hear. It’ll do. <\/p>\n

I started getting back into a workout routine last week that included a bunch of laps on the stairs of our apartment building. Really paid off when I was hitting some of the hills yesterday. I’m still far enough out of shape that five mild miles at Uvas feels like a workout, but it sure felt great to be walking on dirt again. <\/p>\n

Uvas links<\/strong><\/p>\n