by Sam van Almen

Created on: February 04, 2007   Last Updated: April 27, 2007

Adventure on a Creek Trail
Day Tripper: Adventure on a Creek Trail

A cloudy Saturday morning, a few hours to kill, a new camera and a old truck. Hardly a recipe for adventure, but maybe I am thinking to big.

I begin to prowl the side roads near my home in Powell just off Clinton Highway, past the landlord's house down toward the fishing dock. A left turn takes me up a small road and into the hills. I spot an abandoned, tumble down house, nearby a couple of old boys split wood (well, one splits and one watches). I park and amble up to ask if I might take a few shots of the old house and maybe the barn that is 50 yards behind them. They are as friendly as a person could want, and invite me to take a walk up the creek that runs past the barn, letting me know that there are a couple of little waterfalls up the hollow.

After I shoot the house and barn I take their invitation to stroll up the creek. The trail is hardly used and covered with moss and fallen leaves. The quiet of the setting and the beauty of the scene capture me as I, in turn, capture a few images. I can hear, and see a glimmer of, the promised waterfalls ahead. I am so intent on reaching them I almost missed it.

A seldom used trail along a creek can sometimes surprise you. I am cautious and try to avoid a surprise of the unpleasant kind, the kind that would end with me in the water. I look down to assure my footing and there it is, the reason I am right here, right now. Poking up through the dead leaves, two orange and yellow jewels stand, as proud and grand in their two inches of glory as the series of falls behind them.

As I walk back down the draw in the direction of my battered pickup, I am amused that in my hurry to get to the promised waterfall, I almost missed something else equally relevant and beautiful. The waterfalls will certainly be there tomorrow, the mushrooms may not.

Lesson learned, and hopefully, not forgotten.

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