Waterfalls Archives

Posted on August 5, 2011 by Barb — 12 Comments

Wyoming in the Summer – Roadtrip

Roadtrip – California, Nevada, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah

Mr. A loved driving across the Nevada landscape and setting the cruise control at 75 MPH. This was his first real roadtrip where he did a lot of the driving for us. I enjoyed sitting in the passenger seat and soaking in the big skies and the distant mountains still iced with snow.

Although we enjoyed the whole trip, the star of the show was most definitely the Grand Tetons. We were able to swing a room at the Jackson Lake Lodge for part of our trip and it was great home base. It was everything a lodge should be and more.

Wyoming landscapes…sun, clouds, and terrain are quick to change.

My sons were both feeling crummy with colds when we were in the middle of our trip so the long hiking days we planned had to be adjusted. Instead, we drove one day up into Yellowstone National Park and did a quick circle tour of some interesting spots in the southern part of the park.

We walked on the boardwalks around the Lower Geyser Basin. It was a fairly active day and we got to see a couple of geysers spout that don’t regularly put on a show. In fact, we got caught in the spray of one geyser….that was a first.

I spent time on the lookout for interesting wildflowers which were abundant during our trip. This Elk Thistle was interesting and beautiful as it grew alongside the boardwalk.

Our one hike of the day was down the switchback trail to the brink of Lower Yellowstone Falls. The flow was at a near record high when we were there and it was roaring down the canyon. Amazing to stand right at the edge of where the water falls over the rocks!

It was a quick Yellowstone trip but we soaked in the wonderful landscapes and made some great memories. We headed back into Grand Teton Park and alongside the road near the Jackson Lake Lodge we spotted a mama grizzly bear and her two cubs. We stopped across the road and down a little to watch the cubs playing in the meadow. This was a first for our family….we have seen lots of black bears but these were our very first grizzly bears. We didn’t stay long since we really didn’t want to disrupt them but I have to admit very exciting to see this in the wild.

One night we drove up Signal Mountain and watched the sunset over Jackson Lake. As sunset grew closer, the group of us up there got larger. I was pleased that most of us were there to sit quietly and watch with cameras in hand. The one thing about going to national parks is that you realize there are many people visiting from outside the U.S. They have come clear around the world to see what we have in our own backyards. It gives you fresh eyes to think about what you have and need to appreciate.

Those clouds in the sunset photo above turned into thunderheads and by bedtime it was quite a show. We watched from our room window as the sky came alive and the thunder was louder than I have ever heard before…almost like explosions. It rained just a little and then the storm disappeared. Perfect Wyoming experience for the boys!

When morning dawned, the skies were clear and the sun was warm. On our way out of the park we stopped to enjoy the reflection of the mountains in the lake in the early morning light. Breathtaking!

When we stopped to take the reflection photos, I noticed these huge seed clouds at my feet. We looked them up in our guide and identified them as Yellow salsify. The flowers look much like dandelions but the seeds heads are much larger. I had my son put his hand in the photo so you could see how large they are.

Our road trip is over for the summer and we have packed in some great family memories. The boys enjoyed the wildlife and the great food we enjoyed on our trip. I packed breakfast and lunch but we ate our dinners in restaurants. The most memorable meal ended with fresh homemade huckleberry pie. I am going to dream of that slice of heaven for a very long time to come.

It is nice to be home, back to my garden but it is always refreshing to get out on the open road and see some new and exciting things. I have a couple more posts to share with other aspects of our trip so stay tuned.

Posted on July 27, 2011 by Barb — 10 Comments

Hiking in the Sierra: Cascade Falls at Lake Tahoe

What did Harmony Art Mom do for her 27th Wedding Anniversary?

Hiked to a waterfall!

My dear husband and I took a day to hike up to one of our favorite spots at nearby Lake Tahoe. The trailhead is at Bayview Campground and the parking can be tricky. We caught someone as they were leaving and got a spot in the shade.

The trail is not steep or very long but there are sections that are covered in granite rocks that you need to scramble up on or over or around. There are plenty of spots to stop and take in the view as you hike along.

We hiked to the Cascade Falls and then sat and just enjoyed each other’s company and the solitude for awhile.

The wildflowers were blooming along the trail and this one was abundant.

You actually hike to the top of the waterfall so there isn’t a really great place to take a shot of the whole waterfall at one time. Here is a section of it.

We hiked back down the trail in the late afternoon and then made our way over to Tallac Historic Site to have a picnic (including a special slice of cheesecake for each of us).

I worked in my nature journal recording the wildflowers we saw earlier and my husband did some reading until we decided we better take an after dinner walk to burn off some of the picnic calories. I love the long hours of a summer evening and this time we found a place that I want to bring the kids back to.

This promenade in the middle of the forest was the connecting sidewalk between two turn-of-the-twentieth-century hotels. The hotels are long gone but the promenade remains. We tried to imagine what it would have been like to stay at one of the hotels way back then.

It was a perfect anniversary day….hope to do it again sometime!

Posted on March 8, 2011 by Barb — 7 Comments

OHC Winter Insects and Hike With a Waterfall

We had almost given up trying to fit in a winter insect study but it was such a perfect day today to get outdoors that we took advantage. I whipped up some sandwiches, we jumped in the car, and we had a little picnic before we took a hike on our close-by and most familiar trail.

What impressed me the most as we started to hike was the greenness all around us! The grasses, the mosses, and the ferns are what Crayola would call “spring green”. It felt good to get outside and hike…we saw a red-tailed hawk right above us and it was amazing! We heard robins and Western scrub jays as we went along, nice to hear the familiar spring sounds in the woods.

Then the sky and clouds captured my eye and the beauty made me stop to admire and try to get a good shot of just how beautiful the almost spring sky is in our neighborhood today. We had a hail storm around 5:30 AM today and then the storm passed and the clouds parted, revealing a bright blue sky.

So for our insect study I was hoping to find some oak galls or leaf miners and I was successful in finding one of those things.

Leaf miners are talked about in the Handbook of Nature Study starting on page 329 (Lesson 77).
“Among the most familiar of these are the serpentine miners, so called because the figure formed by the eating out of the green pulp of the leaf curves like a serpent…..The serpent-like marking and the blister-like blothces which we often see on leaves are made by the larve of insects which complete their growth by feeding upon the inner living substance of the leaf.”

We saw evidence of other insects all around the trail when we stopped to look closely.

As I was taking these photos, I happened to see this guy. I have absolutely no idea what kind of insect it is but was great to observe him this afternoon, a sign of life in these woods.

The next leg of the hike had some surprises in store for us. Like these very first of the season Shooting Stars!

And these colorful and cheery buttercups…added bonus….some small fly-like insect.

I have been down this trail a hundred times and I haven’t ever noticed how nicely this manzanita is shaped. It must be pretty old because it is taller than most of the manzanita in this area and looks more like a tree than a bush. See the nice oak on the left all covered with spring moss?

On the way back up the trail we stopped to admire the waterfall and I was excited to see the early spring saxifrage beginning to sprout. Soon it will be blooming and I will know it is spring.

Kona had to get in the water while she waited for me to finish my photo taking. She moved some rocks around in the water with her nose and got a drink.

Here is the waterfall from the trail. This is looking up and there is a section below where we are so the sound of rushing water is heard from the parking place all the way down to where we turn around and come back up. It is one of those very relaxing and comforting sounds that we enjoy on this hike.

Here is a red insect I spotted while I was crouched down taking photos of the saxifrage. I don’t know what it is but it had wings and eventually flew away.

I think that wraps up our hike and our insects for our study. We are going to try to identify the red insect in the photo above and add it to our nature journals this week. What a great day outdoors! I think I have been color deprived because just seeing the few wildflowers, the greens of the grasses and mosses, and the colorful insect has brightened my mood. I think we all feel better.

Update:
I updated my last entry with a photo from last summer….we were at the redwood forest in Northern California. Click over and scroll down to see how small we are in comparison to the base of the tree!

Posted on July 14, 2010 by Barb — 5 Comments

Summer is For Hiking

I really mean to post our Outdoor Hour Challenges but somehow I just keep getting distracted. I am avoiding too much work this week because it feels like the summer sort of thing to do.

Hiking is our activity of choice these days when we have family time. The boys are old enough now that we can take some fairly decent day hikes and enjoy some awesome Sierra landscapes. Wake up, pack a lunch, and lace on your hiking shoes….out the door.

Last week we took the one hour trip over the mountain to the Cascade Falls trailhead. We had two choices…the falls or Desolation Wilderness. Since this was a day hike we opted for the easy mile and a half, out and back trail to the falls.

You actually hike to the top of the falls and look down over Lake Tahoe.

It was not too hot so we decided to find a place and just enjoy the scenery. The sound of the falls, the blue Sierra sky, and the warm air is so refreshing and worth the effort to get there.

It always amazes me that anything can grow on these giant slabs of granite. They seem to find little cracks and spaces to hold fast to like this wildflower at the top of the falls. In the top right of the photo you can catch a glimpse of the lake and how high we are up on the waterfall.

This past weekend we took another one hour drive in a different direction and ended up at Woods Lake. A short, short hike around the lake takes you to a small but pleasant waterfall.

We let the boys blaze the trail back and at some points there was a lot of scurrying over rocks. They always assure me that it is “easy”. They forget that I am getting a little old to scramble over rocks and to jump down from logs.

Yes, that is snow. There were actually still numerous spots around this high altitude lake that still had snow.

The rest of the afternoon my husband and I were planted firmly in chairs on the side of this gorgeous lake. I did some watercoloring in my nature journal and he took a little snooze. Perfect.

The boys didn’t sit still very long and they were lured around the opposite side of the lake for a little more exploring. Let’s just say that shoes got wet on this little outing. 🙂

We found a long time ago that we can explore so many different places by using a simple idea. Take a map and place a big dot on your home town. Now determine an hour’s distance from your home and draw a circle around your home at that distance. Make a list of all the places you can go that are within that hour’s distance and then start one by one giving them a try. We have been following this concept for over a decade and it always amazes us what we can find to do that is within that short distance range.

Give it a try and let me know how it goes.

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Barb — 3 Comments

Cascade Falls: Getting Away From the Crowds

This weekend we took an afternoon trip to hike up to a waterfall. If you read my post about nature study in ripples, we were rippling out about an hour’s drive from our house and then hiking up one mile into the Desolation Wilderness.

The challenge on this afternoon was to find a place to park. We actually had planned on hiking to a different waterfall a few miles down the road but there were no parking places. Not only were there no spaces left, but all available space alongside the narrow highway was filled. We were disappointed but determined. I love the age of cell phones. We found a place where we had cell coverage and phoned Amanda. She had opted to stay home on this particular afternoon and she was happy to look up an alternate hike for us in the area. She picked a good one and we were able to find a space at the trailhead of this hike after waiting a few minutes for someone to leave.

Here we are hiking down the trail. We were so surprised after seeing all the cars at the parking area that we did not see but a handful of people on the trail with us. Sigh, fresh air and space.

This was our goal, a series of cascading waterfalls. This part of the trail is along a steep ridge with very uneven rocks to hike up. You do not want to lose your concentration on this part of the trail.

The thing about hiking in the high country over big slabs of granite is that sometimes you have to be very observant in order to know which way to go. Someone was very helpful and left this line of rocks that pointed the way to the next section of the trail. We could hear the waterfall by this point so we knew the general direction but it was nice to have confirmation.

Success! Here we are at the top of the waterfall. Springtime is such a great time for waterfalls. My hubby and I sat on a log and just soaked in the sounds and the sights while all three of our sons scrambled and hopped and climbed up over the boulders and up the waterfall.

This photo was accompanied by me hollering a stream of warnings.

“Don’t fall in the water.”
“You don’t have extra shoes.”
“Rocks are slippery when they are wet.”
My personal favorite, “If you fall in, I’m not coming in after you.”

Someone always has to go higher than someone else. No names mentioned.

Something that happens in the high country at this time of year are afternoon thundershowers. We had checked the weather before leaving for the hike and it had warned of possible thunderstorms moving in late in the afternoon. We kept our eye on the horizon as we hiked and the clouds did build up a little at one point but no storm on this afternoon.

The lichen on the rocks was so beautiful. The color really stands out on the granite.

This is a really bad photo (taken into the sun) of my boys climbing up a dead tree. This area looks as if it received quite few lightning strikes in the past because of all the single burned trees. It is very exposed and on the east side of the mountain and I really would not want to be up here during a storm. The boys enjoyed the view from up their tree and wanted me to take a photo of them.

At this elevation and at this time of year, there are not too many wildflowers. We did see this one growing in the cracks of the granite in a few places. The splash of green with the white and yellow flowers amidst all the grayness was a delight.

Here is one of the trail markers. For some reason we didn’t find this one very helpful, although we knew we had not strayed too far off the trail.

We had a great afternoon and were home in time to grill some burgers. I will confess that I was not in the mood to hike on this afternoon and wanted to stay home but the boys wanted to “do something”. I know they are just wanting to get out when they suggest a hike because they know that I rarely turn down an opportunity to hit the trail.

Thanks boys for encouraging me to get outside and experiencing this amazing spot so close to home.

Posted on March 5, 2009 by Barb — 5 Comments

Signs of Spring: Waterfalls and Wildflowers

On Monday we drove down to the bridge across the river near our house and this was what it looked like. The rainstorm has brought the river level up much higher than last week and look at that mist…..awesome.

We got a chance between pouring rainstorms to go out for a hike today. It was colder than I expected but it was worth the effort. I took a short video of one of the creeks that has sprung up since the rain started last week. Enjoy the sounds of water rushing down the hill.

Here are a few more shots of a different waterfall along the trail….one that I have shared before. The water was the highest we have seen yet.

What a glorious little waterfall.

There is a flower just starting to bloom right at the waterfall.

Here is what the flower looks like close-up.

I think it may be some sort of saxifrage…not sure.

We also were treated to some Shooting Stars today….the first I have seen blooming for this season. I didn’t get a decent photo but I will try again tomorrow.

This area around the trail is changing very fast now and it has a whole different feel to it as we take our walks. Spring is very, very close.

Posted on February 17, 2009 by Barb — 2 Comments

More Snow Experiments: Winter Wednesday

This has been one snowy week for our family. We woke up to snow on two mornings and it was gloriously beautiful.

The birds showed up for the Great Backyard Bird Count even with the snow and it was very entertaining to watch the different techniques for getting to the seed. The Spotted towhee was a master at scratching a hole in the snow and finding the seed underneath. The juncos just waited until the towhee flew away and then they took over.

The bulbs seemed happy to just hang out with the white stuff.

We took numerous opportunities to go out and measure the snow depth. We never got over three inches at any one time but it would snow, melt, and then snow again so I think our total count is somewhere about 8 inches for the season. That is actually a lot of snow for our area and we have enjoyed it thoroughly along with the Winter Wednesday activities. (Teenagers think that they can go outside wearing sandals in the snow….and t-shirts. Brrrrrrrr.)

We enjoyed a few snow walks this week and this particular one was very beautiful even if the trees kept dumping snow on our heads as it melted and fell to the ground.

There were quite a few trees and tree branches across the trail.

This is the first time we have seen water running over this waterfall along the trail. We were excited to see this on the day after the big snowstorm. The sound was the perfect little waterfall sound.

Hope you are enjoying your Winter Wednesday activities as much as we are.

Posted on August 4, 2008 by Barb — 3 Comments

Waterfall on a Hot Summer Day

It was a hot summer afternoon and we were willing to take the hike to get to the waterfall. We have been here before and the waterfall and the views are worth the effort. This is one of those hikes that you start off with a well marked trail and then it seems as if the signs disappear. Normally a trail will be marked with a sign like the one above but what happens when you reach a spot that looks like this?

You look a little closer and a little higher up. Here I will zoom in for you.

If you click the photo you will find the little diamond shaped trail marker.

Our reward was this fantastic waterfall. It is so big it won’t fit in one frame of the camera. The boys spent a lot of time climbing up and down the granite and then they eventually took their shoes off and waded in a bit.

I immediately took my hiking shoes and socks off and had my feet soaking in the ice cold snow water. I even dipped my head in and let my hair get wet. Why is hubby so wet?

He decided to go all the way in! Not for very long though….it took his breath away.

One wildflower photo….not many left on this hike at this time of the summer.

One interesting photo….look at his feet! He was hiking on the same trail as we were with no shoes on. I could hardly believe it.

Great afternoon, even if I did get cranky and hot. I am not always the cheerful nature study girl. 🙂

Tag: Waterfalls