Archive for April 2006
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Oroville North Table Mountain Waterfall Loop
(Click photo for all 110 photos)
Lisa, Mary, Theresa, Jason, Paige and I headed to North Table Mountain in Oroville again to tackle the waterfall loop as described on Leon Turnbull’s Water Falls West webpage. The highlight of the Waterfall Loop route is Phantom Falls. There are no trails in this area, so it was a cross-country trek all the way. We had our GPS units to guide our way and we headed towards Phantom Falls. Along the way we saw a wide variety of wildflowers, an occassional butterfly and we saw a swarm of swallows gathering mud from one of the little creeks to build their nests; coincidentally, the swallows were building their nests over as Phantom Falls, as we delightfully discovered when we arrived over there. As we continued towards Phantom Falls, we saw and admired two unnamed waterfalls cascading down a ravine edge. And shortly after, we came to Phantom Falls and enjoyed lunch there on the ledge across from the falls. After lunch, we headed back to pick up the loop and try find the other four falls that are in the area. This was the first warm spring day (finally the rain has take a break!) and the 90′F weather took it’s toil on all of us. The area has very few trees, other than those in the ravines, which also have a lot of poison oak that we were trying to avoid. We made our way to two more falls and we found California Newts swimming in the creek feeding one of them. Heading back to the car, we all decided to skip the last waterfall and the map and make a more for a more direct route out of the area. It was a long day, but a good day. We grabbed a bite to eat in Oroville and then hit the road home.
GPS Stats: • Odometer: 8.21 miles • Total Time: 6:46 • Moving Time: 3:42 • Overall Average Speed 1.2 mph • Moving Average Speed: 2.2 mph
Photo Class — Oroville North Table Mountain
(Click photo for all 43 photos)
Field trip #2 for the 35MM & Digital SLR Wildflower & Landscape Photography class, that I’m taking from the Learning Exchange, was to North Table Mountain near Oroville. This area is considered to be one of several fantastic wildflower areas and today wasn’t a let down. The area is at the top of a volcanic area and is carpeted with grass and flowers… gold with flecks of purple everywhere you looked. There are also lots of waterfalls in the area. Several of us from class found a nearby waterfall and scooted down the slippery steep edge to get to the bottom of it for hopefully some good shots. After we finished shooting, we discovered that there was also nice gentle sloping path to the waterfall and we took that way back!! This has been an interesting class to take. I’ve learned a lot and now I know a little more and can maybe get some interesting shots in the future. 
Pierce Canyon Falls QTVR
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