It’s that time of year that I can take off hiking after work and have plenty of time before it gets dark with the sun not setting until well after 8:00PM. I don’t so much love the heat of summer but the long days give you opportunity to get things done. So, off I went out to the wildlife refuge for a bit of hiking. It was a Thursday evening and there were only two other vehicles in the parking lot, so I would have plenty of time to myself.

When I got down to the creek and small waterfall, I found it flowing more than I expected. I think that this creek is mostly spring fed and doesn’t have water in it during the driest times. But we have had plenty of rain for the spring and the springs upstream must be flowing well as there was plenty of water in the creek. In the image below, you can see where the hiking trail hops across the creek on stepping stones.

In the late afternoon, before I left my house, there were plenty of clouds in the sky and I thought that it would be a good opportunity for some sunset photography. But, as often happens, the clouds began to vanish as the sun neared the horizon. By the time I got to one of the overlooks about 20 minutes before sunset, the clouds were all but gone. But the sun was still lighting up the evening haze with golden light so, it was worth a photo. In the image below, you can see the hiking trail heading back across the valley to the car park. If you look closely enough you can see a couple of hikers heading down the trail.

The above image took a lot of work in Lightroom as there was so much contrast. I exposed for the sky so as to keep color detail but that means the landscape was very dark and had to be brought back up and denoised. I also enhanced the haziness around the sun and across the distant parts of the landscape to give it more atmosphere. I think the image above captures what the scene felt like to me,

I also had to stop and photograph a rabbit. He sat very still and pretended that I couldn’t see him and this gave me a chance to try to shoot through the grasses. There are a lot of rabbits out at the refuge and probably plenty of coyotes to go with them.

I made it to the hill in the back of the hiking area just as the last light was falling across it. I thought the light was nice and worth a photo. This is taken from a high area just before the trail goes down into the valley and over to the hill.

It started getting dark, so I turned back and headed for my truck and made it back before it got too dark. They don’t want you in the refuge after dark, I guess so you don’t get the idea that you can camp out there. Besides, I’m sure the coyotes have the run of the place at night.

Thanks for the read.