Carlon Falls and Hetch Hetchy

The Cindy's and Kayla came up for New Years (soon to be followed by Tina and Marty).  We did a great hike to Carlon Falls followed by a drive out to Hetch Hetchy for a picnic lunch and a quick look around before heading back to the cabin to meet up with Tina and Marty.

The big excitement of the Carlon Falls hike was locating a freshly killed buck, that was still warm!   The dogs noticed traces of fur next to the trail and while we were examining it, they found the dead deer a little ways away.   There was all kinds of CSI analysis going on as we checked out the deer and mapped where the attack took place through the forest.  (Note:  when I say "we" I do not include myself as I was off identifying plants and gagging a little!).  We are pretty sure that it was a mountain lion kill from earlier in the morning.

The Carlon Falls hike runs along the river and is a great place for a summer hike as you can dunk in the river if it gets too hot.    But on this day, it was in the 40's and there were spots of snow and ice in places.

We kept the Weener close to us after seeing the dead deer.  The mountain lion was probably hunkered down somewhere close, watching, or at least listening, to us.

After the excitement of Carlon Falls, we packed up and headed out to Hetch Hetchy for a picnic and a hike across the dam and through the tunnel.   Then back to the cabin for BBQ chicken and some games.