Another early morning, another dead battery. This time it is the Mazda! Chris swears her DROiD killed the car since it was plugged in all night. Fortunately, the nice group next to us had cables and were willing to jump us (note to self: make sure cables in garage get put into the car).
Chris pointed out that I forgot to mention her addition to our camping gear - her compasswhistleometer. Apparently, one of her packing lists said we need a whistle, and she found one that is also a compass and a thermometer. It isn't something I would have bought, and I gave her some grief about it too. However, since I actually used it as a thermometer... anyway...
BLT sandwiches for breakfast (well BLT for Chris, BL for Tim). Lunch packed into the backpack, complete with fresh fruit. Off we go.
It's a good thing we turned back the previous day. It turns out that the distance listed on the sign at the trailhead was only for the section of the trail that was inside Gorges State Park. Since the waterfalls are actually outside the park, our nice little three mile hike turned out to be seven miles. It was well worth the hike though.
The trail inside the state park was amazing - it was all downhill going out, at least five feet wide and graveled. The grade was fairly gentle and switch-backed. Then we crossed into the national forest... Now this was a trail! Dirt! Variable grade! Ankle-breaking roots and rocks! Tim was in heaven.
At the bottom of the trail we took a short rest and crossed over into the rocky stream bed. It was here we introduced Chris to a new experience - Bouldering!
We decided to go upstream along the river bed, going from rock to rock trying to stay dry. We were mostly successful and Chris was a real trooper... After only a couple of "I can't do it"s, and finding a stick to help her along, she was rock hopping with the best. She only got wet twice, not counting the forced swim we both had to take. Some fishermen along the way were pulling some really nice brown trout out of the river.
We decided to go upstream along the river bed, going from rock to rock trying to stay dry. We were mostly successful and Chris was a real trooper... After only a couple of "I can't do it"s, and finding a stick to help her along, she was rock hopping with the best. She only got wet twice, not counting the forced swim we both had to take. Some fishermen along the way were pulling some really nice brown trout out of the river.
After a while (and lunch on one of the rocks), we returned to the trail. Heading back upslope, we passed a couple of trailside campsites. Chris and I are thinking it might be nice to come back one day and hike into one of them for a day or two. The trail is still pretty rugged, but not impossible.
About three quarters of the way out, we finally made it to Rainbow Falls. Very pretty cascade with a deep swimming hole at the bottom with a ledge to jump off into it. It was fairly crowded (and at least a 30 foot drop, if not more), and we wanted to make it to Turtleback. At the top of Rainbow, we walked out to the top of the falls. I even got Chris to sit for pictures right out on the edge.
Turtleback looks more like a huge rapid than a waterfall. It also looks just like its name - a big rounded slab of rock with water washing over it into a deep pool. Perfect for a water slide! Of course I got some great action shots of Chris sliding in to the water. Even helped her defeat her ancient enemy - the dreaded climbing rope. There was much rejoicing. Sadly, somewhere along the way I split the nail on my left big toe - Ow! Oh Well.
We hiked back down to the bottom of Rainbow when we were done. It was much less crowded this late in the day, and the sun had shifted so that the area was in shade. It was lovely, cool, and not all that loud.
Chris got a good look at the ledge I had her posing on earlier. I think she may have fussed at me some more. Not to worry though - she admitted to being happy she had done it.
In the pool was a father and his young daughter. I mean young too - she may have been four years old. She was having a grand time in the water too. This is the kind of Dad I would want to be.
More pictures of course, then it was time to go. The hike out wasn't nearly as rough as I thought it might be (there were many stops 'to see the scenery' on the way - editor). The thing that always amazes me though is the number of people who go on hikes like this who are wearing flip flops and carrying no water. I have never thought this was a smart idea!
Back at camp it was another nice quiet night by the campfire. We heated a can of coup for dinner and roasted hot dogs on the open fire. Of course Chris made S'mores again.
It really wouldn't break my heart if we could do this far more often than we have been.
