looping Mission and Rattlesnake Canyons
A bit more rain and maybe Mission Falls will be flowing? Only one way to find out, and that's to look. I started up Rattlesnake, since like that loads better than Tunnel, but was determined to see where the use trail just after the first mile went. I suspected up to the utility road above and it did, with some great views. At the catway, I continued up in a hope that there would be a use trail connecting that top to Tunnel, but there was only as much as expected, which is none. I had to go back down quite a way before I could go up a spur I knew connected with the trail. Once on the spur and Tunnel, I had to avoid mountain bikers. One of the advantages of Rattlesnake is that they are banned. It was quite a climb, but I finally got to just above where I'd been on the catway and could get around the one last obstacle to seeing the waterfall. It was running. Sort of. A wet smear showed where water could be. I continued along the trail to the falls and found there was a noticeable flow to renew the wet smear and a few weeping spots. It had snowed that far down and a few icy spots remained. I headed back down, turning down Rattlesnake when I came to it. At the junction, I did a sketch.
When finished, I headed down the canyon. The lower reaches were cold on the way up, they were warm as the cool of evening invaded the less sheltered areas.
When finished, I headed down the canyon. The lower reaches were cold on the way up, they were warm as the cool of evening invaded the less sheltered areas.