Journeys›Photograph

A Long Weekend Down on Walnut Creek

·Walnut Creek, California·#dog#forest#river#northern california#late summer
A black and white dog stands on a rocky river bank looking towards the clear water with trees in the background.

Long weekend, so we took the dog down to the water. The creek is about as low as it gets by early September, running clear over the cobbles — you can count every stone through a couple feet of it. We weren't the only ones with the idea; a few people were out on the bar upstream near the bridge, and later someone swam out into the deep pool below the little rapids.

The dog worked the whole shoreline, in and out of the shallows, then ended up at the lip of the big rock above the green pool, tongue out, looking straight down at the water. Never jumped. Just stood there a long while, then picked a way back down the rock the same way it came up.

We stayed until the sun dropped behind the trees on the far side and the water went dark in the shade.

A clear river flows over rocks through a sunlit forest, with two people by the far bank.A panoramic view of a clear river with rocky banks, surrounded by dense green forest, and a bridge in the distance.A black and white dog stands on a rocky ledge overlooking dark water, with a forested hillside.A black and white dog walks on a large rock next to dark water and a lush green, rocky hillside.A river flows through a forested mountain valley with a person swimming and a fallen log.Clear water flows over a large stratified rock and many smaller colorful pebbles, with sunlight creating rippled patterns.A rocky river flows through a dense evergreen forest under a bright blue sky.A sparkling river flows over smooth rocks, with a dense forest covering hills under a blue sky.

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