I was extremely pleased that the narrow canyon kept much of French Pete Creek shaded for most of the day. I hadn’t even brought my tripod, but I turned around and went back to retrieve it right after I reached the creek and saw what was in store for me.

Speaking of stores and tripods, I had to stop at a home improvement store to buy Allen wrenches this morning. My tripod’s quick release clamp has been loose, which is why I haven’t been getting as sharp pictures as I would have hoped. I didn’t bring any tools, and I had just been trying to seat it as best I could. It became obvious that wasn’t working, so I asked the hotel’s desk clerk if they had tools I could borrow. He looked but couldn’t locate Allen wrenches, so he gave me directions to the store. What a difference the adjustment made.

I spent about half an hour just shooting that short spot where the trail first reached the creek. That was a good indication of how I would spend my day. It seemed as though every time there was creek access there were shots just waiting to be had. I don’t know that the average (or perhaps I should say “normal”) hiker would think that French Pete was particularly different than any other creek, but I thought that it was extremely photogenic. Heck, I thought that my very first shot was going to be my photo of the day. But as I moved on it became apparent that it would be a very difficult task choosing one shot. Of course if you know me, you’re well aware that I will eventually upload more photos than anyone in their right mind would want to view. That’s okay. As I told Jim on Monday, I don’t upload just my best shots as most photographers would do. Pbase serves a place where I store memories. So I shoot and upload the most pedestrian of scenes because I want to remember what it was like to be somewhere.

I only hiked to the first bridge-less crossing. That was my planned turn around point. One might wonder what beautiful scenes lay beyond. I’ll leave that for another day. I already slipped and fell once on those river rocks, so I’m not sure I would have attempted to find a spot to rock hop across. It’s a shame that they haven’t replaced the bridge. Somehow I doubt that they will. The interesting thing is that on my next hike I spotted the remains of the previous bridge close to another bridge that already looks old.

French Pete is my current favorite creek. That changes depending on where I happen to be each day. I was very pleased with the plethora of water scenes I was able to capture. I will be going to Sweet Creek and Brice Creek soon, so those in succession will become my favorite creek.

I finished the day at Rebel Creek, which was more deserted than French Pete. I had the place to myself. That’s not saying a whole lot since I only saw three other people on the French Pete trail. The trail at Rebel Creek stays on the banks above the creek except at the two crossings, so I didn’t end up with a lot of photos. Still, it was a very nice way to end the day. Sometimes it’s nice just to savor the experience without looking for where my next shot will be. After all, I’m sure you know that being in a place with so many beautiful scenes to shoot can be so very time consuming.