129 feet tall
42-48 F
100 million gallons goes over in one day
On Saturday, back at our campground, we saw that there was a planned hike on the Falls Loop trail. It was only an hour long so the dh, the kids and myself took that hike. It was a good hike, learning that the park has no poison ivy at all, and the difference between white oaks and black oaks, and there are 5 main trees in the park. White Oak, Black Oak, Douglas Fir, Ponderosa Pine, and Incense Cedar. There are other trees, but these ones make up the majority. I know there is more information, but my brain can only hold so much. Once we got to the bottom and started up the other side, we did see one of the rare Black Swifts that nests behind the Falls. That was kind of cool. There were more earlier in the summer, but most had migrated already. They migrate before the falls start to freeze up in the Autumn, at least that’s what the sign says.
We headed back to camp for lunch, then some more hiking, at least a little bit. Ds, grandma and grandpa and I headed for the Headwaters Trail after lunch. We wanted to see how far we could go with grandpa’s scooter before having to turn around. Technically I don’t think we were supposed to have the scooter on that trail, but I didn’t see the sign until we came back. I should say that we were working on some questions in the camp newspaper to earn a patch. One of the questions had to do with The Pacific Crest Trail. How far is Canada, and how far is Mexico? So, we did that first on this trail. We crossed the fisherman’s bridge above the falls, and took a very short little hike to the sign.
Then back the same way we came to start up the other side of trail. We needed to find a building with signs on it. I didn’t know it was a pumphouse. Anyways, we knew it wasn’t too far up the trail, maybe ½ mile. There were some tight spots for the scooter, but it wasn’t too bad. There weren’t any ups or downs, it was level ground. The signs on the pumphouse? Warnings about raccoons and other animals dangerous to your health, Warnings about leaving tangled fishing wire, and Don’t Feed the Animals. We hiked for that!?@!
Fortunately some of that trail was shaded, but we were very hot and dusty when we returned to camp. Dh, dd, grandpa and I went down to the lake after that to swim, while grandma fixed dinner.
After dinner, dd, dh and I hiked part of the Pioneer Cemetery Trail. We needed to locate the cemetery and find the I inscription on the gravestone of one Earnest Baker. I did not take any pictures there, really dumb or me!! Instead I took pictures along the way of a burned out tree. It looked like a forest fire had come through there fairly recently. So, the inscription on the headstone said: Earnest Baker, son of ……& M.C. Baker; died Nov. 24, 1893; Aged 21 years 8 d’s; Lost in the storms of earth, but saved with the Saints in glory. We came back covered in more red dust. It’s like visiting Mars or something, there is so much red dust there. (I took no pictures at the Pioneer Cemetery, which was really dumb of me!!)
Later that night we drove down to the lake for a meteor shower viewing. It was supposed to be the peak of the Perseids, but I think I saw a total of 6 meteors, dd saw 10 or so. It was kind of a dud.
Next morning saw us packing up camp and heading to Redding for breakfast. We ate at a pretty good place, Country Kitchen on Hilltop Dr. They were doing a booming business, which was a good sign. Then we said our goodbyes and headed for home. The drive was fairly uneventful, and by 8:00 pm, we were home, airing out the house, unloading our junk and saying hello to our kitty.
I don’t think I forgot anything, but who knows. So much has been happening here this week that has taken my mind elsewhere.
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