June 25, 2013...What an AWESOME hike! It was such a LONG hike. We thought we could do this hike in 3 hours, so we thought we do it after work one day. We started around 6:00pm and took some
sandwiches and snacks with us to eat along the way. Well...we didn't get down from the hike until 11:00pm. I will get into that in a minute. We started on our hike and knew that there was a reservoir that we would come to. That was actually very nice, and there were a lot of people that would stop at that point and just hang out at the reservoir.
Well, we knew there was a lower and upper falls to get to. We decided we would get to the lower falls and then see how we were doing on time and decide to go to the upper falls if we thought we could make it on time. I was kind of surprised at how many people were on this hike. It seemed like a pretty popular hike. After we went around the reservoir, it was pretty open until we started following the creek. It
was just gorgeous! It is so hard for me, because I don't feel like I can describe how beautiful this hike was. The water flowing down that creek was just hundreds of smaller waterfalls. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. I don't feel like pictures even capture how beautiful it was! We pretty much followed the creek all the way up. The hike was pretty steep. It was also very dense with bushes and trees. I will have to say that I was really nervous! I like being able to see all the things around me. I just felt very vulnerable. I know it sounds so silly, but I honestly was nervous that an animal would startle us or we would startle them. I didn't want to come
across a moose or a bear or a large elk or something. You could see gaming tracks, so you know they were around somewhere. I just prayed that we would be safe. You weren't scared at all, but were my little protector. We felt like we were climbing forever. We would stop and take pictures and rest. Then we came across this part where there was an opening where there were big boulders and you could sit on the top. We stopped and ate some food at that location. People kept
telling us we were close. Once we got there, you could just hear the falls rumbling! They were HUGE!!! I couldn't believe how big they were. We were both VERY surprised. The pictures make the falls look wimpy and small, but look in the background, over our left shoulders. You can see some people in a tree closer to the falls. That can help give you a little bit more of a perspective as to how big they were...but the people were also not right by the falls either. We kept getting wet from all the moisture in the air. We talked to a couple different people that said this time of year is the best time of year to see the falls...and they are bigger if we had a better snow fall the year before, from all the snow melt. It was definitely worth it.
When we were talking to others, they said that the upper falls are even bigger and more beautiful. We were thinking that we might be close on time, but since we had gone this far, if we were going to see the falls at their peak high, this is the time to see them. So...we kept going! I can't even tell you how long I felt like we were hiking. I felt like we just kept going and going and going. It was starting to get dark, and I was starting to feel like we should turn around. I was getting a little scared thinking of going all the way back down the mountain in the dark. It would have been easier if I could hold your hand on the way down, but the forest was so dense, you are walking on a path that is only one person wide. Anyway, we ended up finding the
upper falls, but we walked all the way to the top before we realized we were on top of the falls. You were so cute and such a little boy. You were just going off on these huge boulders to get a better look. The water was just basically crossing the boulders and falling off the boulders. There wasn't a river bed for the water to cross, it was just the surface of the boulders. It was AMAZING! I really wish we could have captured more of the actual beauty on the camera. You shouted at me and I was shocked, because you were on the other side of the waterfall. I told you to be careful and to please just come back over to where I was. You were standing there
and you took off running and then you jumped, disappeared and I heard this little yell! I freaked out. I thought you had fallen off the waterfall! I seriously was so scared. I screamed your name and then all of a sudden I saw you pop your head up. You ran over to me and you showed me your scraped up knee where you had fallen and almost went over the edge. I told you to please not do that ever again. I think it scared you a little too, because you grabbed me in your arms and wrapped me up close to you and said, "Will you marry me?" I said, "Yes, but don't ever do that again!" and then you kissed me. It all happened so fast, I
didn't really comprehend that you had asked me to marry you! We went around to the bottom of the falls and we found a man and his son there. We asked them to take our picture. The falls look wimpy, but they really were so big and there were so many falls all over. The lighting wasn't the best, so it was hard to really capture what we were looking at it. It started getting darker and we thought that maybe we could make it back to that one level spot with the big boulder to watch the sunset. We got there and was able to see some of the sunset. It was nice to just watch the sunset, but that is when I really started getting scared. It is so pathetic that I am scared of the dark and being outside in the dark especially. Anyway, to help me out, you turned on some music and played it through the rock out speaker so that it would scare away any animals that might come get us! It was kind of fun, but it was pitch black. We came prepared with warmer layers to put on and headlamps with extra batteries. We also had some food in case we got stuck up there. We were just fine. We were on a small marked trail and it would have been easy to get lost, because there were so many directions for you to
go. You knew exactly where we were and how to get back. I really, truly love that you protect me and would do whatever you could to make sure I was safe. I know that, and I always feel that from you! Thank you!!! Even though I was scared, that night hike was very peaceful and helped me use a lot of senses. You see things very differently in the dark. We saw eyes, but thankfully, they were only deer eyes. You had your big old spotlight for a headlamp, so we pretty much could see everything around us! I had so much fun doing that hike with you. I am not sure I would do that one again, unless we did it in June again. I don't know if we could beat the views we saw, with how much water was falling! Thank you for being amazing and always taking me to do fun things! I love you!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment