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By Miriam Raftery; photos by Tom Lemon
March 16, 2014 (Cibbets Flat) – Tom Lemon sent in these these idyllic photos with a subject line, “East County has a stream!” These images were taken at Cibbets Flat in the Kitchen Creek area.
Lemon writes, “I drove to a favorite place this morning hoping the two or three days of winter that brought an inch or so of rain might be just enough to revive this little stream. I visited there in past years when my sons enjoyed seeing pollywogs, water skimmers and even a garter snake in a pond that swam up and looked at us. A seasonal stream, usually some ponds year round.A beautiful morning. The sun was still behind the mountain and the air was crisp and fragrant but the temperature was only about fifty degrees, we are sooo lucky.”
He adds some cautionary notes, if you plan to visit. “The trail from the parking area to the stream is a easy one but involves some boulder hopping and there is poison oak,. Too cold for rattle snakes in the morning but when the rocks warm up be careful. Didn't see any bees but beware! Any bees in the area are likely aggressive and will chase and sting. See a bee, retreat.”
Continuing on is well worth the effort, though. He recalls a prior visit, “Hiking to the upper pool slash mini falls there is a granite bolder that has a parabola shape, the sound of rushing water to the left is reflected from your right. Words can't convey the effect. I stepped one foot or less forward and back and the sound came and went. Good times.”
In bygone days, he recalls, “We used to stay at Burnt Ranch and take Kitchen Creek Rd to Cibbets Flat camp to play in the stream, now of course the road is closed to thru traffic.”
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