As Lee and Karen Duquette
approached the narrow dirt road leading to Cane Creek Canyon Preserve,
another car was coming out. The two RV Gypsies were glad that they did
not meet that car further up the road, because there was not room for
two cars to pass each other, and the grass on the side was not a suitable
place to pull over. Of course, Lee Duquette was driving their toad,
not the RV, or it would have been a real problem. |
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Below: The welcome signs to
Cane Creek Canyon Nature Preserve and a pleasant surprise; NO admission
charge! This 700-acre site is a privately protected scenic area that
serves as a sanctuary for native plants and animals. There are 11 miles
of hiking trails here. |
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Below: At the end of the road,
Lee Duquette was not quite sure where to park. Then a nice lady came
out of the house and had the Lee and Karen Duquette sign the entrance
book. She then gave them a nice map of the hiking trail and told them
to be sure to return the map before they leave,which they did. After
thanking the lady, Lee and Karen Duquette started off on the trail. |
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Below: After a short, easy
hike, Lee and Karen Duquette came to a plank that crossed over a very
small amount of running water. They saw lots of stairs on the other
side of the plank. Lee Duquette sat down to look at the map and then
he decided that going up the stairs was not an option for him at this
time. After all, he was still recovering from two total knee replacements.
Karen Duquette was disappointed, but understood. |
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Below: Karen Duquette followed
the tiny water trail to the edge of the boulder and looked down to see
a tiny, thin, waterfall which was barely seeable (the photo below on
the right). |
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Below: Karen Duquette peered over the edge a bit
to see the water at the bottom of the cliff. |
Below: Surprisingly,
Lee Duquette decided that
they should walk on the narrow ledge to get
down to the bottom of the waterfall. |
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Below: Then Lee and Karen
Duquette went down several stone steps onto another narrow ledge and
had to bend down to get under the big boulder. |
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Below: After a very short,
but quite tricky trip down to the bottom, Karen Duquette was not sure
it had been worth the effort to see such a tiny waterfall. Look closely
to see the water coming down off the boulder in each of the photos below. |
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Below: Lee and Karen Duquette
turned around and went back under the big boulder, up the twisty rock
steps and back to the area where Lee Duquette sat on the plank earlier.
They decided not to take the stairs upwards. This was enough of a hike
for Lee's first time out this year with his new knees. |
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Below: Back at the beginning of the trail, Lee Duquette saw a nice pond with
some chairs and a dock. So Karen and Lee sat and enjoyed the view. They
thought about walking around the pond, but they were not sure where
it went. So Lee decided that they should return the map and move on
to their next adventure because there was still so many places and things
to do this year. Life is wonderful as an RV Gypsy, even when things
are not quite perfect. Karen Duquette thought Lee did an amazing job
of hiking, despite his knees. |
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