Ventana Wilderness

Paintbrush

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Crossing the Ridge

Crossing the ridge separating Hare Canyon from Limekiln Canyon.

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Everything was Green

The Middle Fork Limekiln basin. Everything was green and often vibrant.

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Big Sur Coast

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Limekiln Canyon

From above, the canyon looks like it flattens at the bottom--but the opposite is true. The pitch usually gets more, not less steep at the bottom. The tallest trees--some over 200'--cluster at the very bottom, drinking at water's edge.

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Camp

I camped alongside the Middle Limekiln. Although it was a holiday weekend, I had the entire canyon to myself both nights.

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Waterfall

There was a waterfall next to camp. The upper Limekiln was running strong.

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Redwood Tipi

One of the camp amenities was a redwood tipi.

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Redwood Tipi

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Fairy Lanterns

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Middle Limekiln Creek

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Shattered Redwood

The forest was hit hard by the Kirk Complex fires of 1999. Many of the redwoods did not die in the fire, but were injured and have fallen in storms in the years since. Some areas looked like the redwoods knocked each other down like dominos; the section just south of camp was like this. These were huge trees, they must have shook the ground with so many coming down at once.

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Shattered Redwood

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Butterfly

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