Late Spring Walk on the South Yuba

Late spring walk on the South Yuba this evening. The river is running hard with the melt, loud enough that you stop talking without noticing. Most of the rocks that stick out midsummer are just white water right now, and the willows along the bank are only starting to leaf — still that pale early green, weeks behind the grass.

Walked upstream far enough to see the dam, then turned around rather than push it with the light going. The mosquitoes weren't out yet, which won't last.

On the way back the sun dropped behind the ridge across the reservoir and a cloud of birds — swallows, maybe — was working the air above the pines. Stood there longer than I meant to. Home before full dark, barely.