Lawrence Pallant Photography

I visited Hollenbeck Canyon Wildlife area for my first time this spring. I liked it so much that I returned a few times since. This write-up is about all those visits. What I liked about it was the varied landscape of rolling grasslands (once farmland), wooded canyon, and chaparral hillsides.

On March 31, I was joined by Alex and Joe. Thank you to Alex for introducing me to this place on this visit. We were going mainly to photograph in a grove of oak trees, but I found the rolling grasslands equally attractive. We met at the trailhead shortly after sunrise.

Click here to see Alex’s photos from this outing and here to see Joe’s photos.

I returned to Hollenbeck a few weeks later, on April 5, with a few hiking friends. This time we did a 7.5-mile loop hike that included the Honey Springs Trail. It was a gorgeous morning as the low clouds burned away.

I returned one last time a few days ago. While on my previous visit, I captured a scene that I thought might look good at sunset. I came back this time, late in the day. To get to this spot, I approached the area through a less-used trail and hiked along a ridge. The light at the end of the day, with long shadows, is always beautiful.

Old Dirt Road at Sunset – April 24, 2021

For my third day in the snow storm, I headed to Garnet Peak. My idea was to be up there at sunset in fresh snow. I didn’t know when I left home just how fresh the snow would be. I left late in the day and made a few stops along the way to check the weather. I saw that there was a prediction for snow starting around 3 PM and lasting a few hours. Seeing this, I decided that I would start hiking earlier. As I started hiking, the snow started falling! What a treat! By the time I got to the PCT trail junction, it was snowing pretty hard and the wind was blowing it sideways.

With the temperature dropping and the snow blowing, I realized that it was unlikely I would remain at the top for sunset. As I approached the peak, I stopped to take a few photos with the peak vanishing in the blowing snow. Even with hand-warmers in my mitts, my fingers were quite cold. It was hard to feel and manipulate the dials on my camera! Snow was covering the viewfinder sensor, causing the LCD viewfinder to turn off.

I took a few pictures of some bushes on the peak and decided to head back.

I was almost back at my car when the snow stopped and the wind calmed. I was thrilled to be out hiking in this storm and I was happy that I was driving back when I did. The new snow on the road was quickly turning from slush to ice.