First Hike of Spring: Camp Alta Mons

Here's the payoff view.

Open field beside the road.

My hiking buddy Janeson Keeley and I took advantage of the first pretty Saturday of the spring today to walk up to the waterfall at Camp Alta Mons in Montgomery, about a 20-minute drive from my house.

This is a lovely Methodist church camp with big fields, lots of cabins and play areas, a swimming pool, multiple streams and the hike up to the 75-foot-or so waterfall about 2.5 miles away from the main camp.

This time of year, there's not much color, but if you've been cooped up for this long winter as much as I have, this was a breakout day and, frankly, I didn't give a hot damn if it was green, brown or chartrusse. The sky was blue, the breeze gentle, the sun mild and it was just about perfect.

This is not the softest hike out there because there is a good bit of climbing and scrambling across the stream--back and forth, forth and back--involved. We both got wet, but neither cared. Here are some shots from the day.

Janeson's shot of me shooting some moss.

Fisheye fence.

Moss on a rock.

Janeson distorted.

Janeson crossed safely this time, fell in later.

Trout pool draining between rocks.

Up through the gorge.

This little climb is trickier than it looks.

Here's what we came to see.

Janeson gets a waterfall shot.

Pampa selfie with water on head. Nice trip.