The trail followed a creek almost the entire way to the bottom of the falls, so it was easy walking and we were able to focus on marveling at the various flowers along the way. As we approached the falls, we began to notice that we were in a more popular area of the park...and then we realized that it was Saturday of July 4th weekend...yikes! Where did all these people come from? Usually when you hike almost 2 miles into the backcountry, the crowds thin out - but not on this trail. We took a couple of quick pictures of Topokah Falls and then headed back in search of a more shady lunch spot. Our plans to lunch by the falls were interrupted by the crowds and the rocky, exposed areas. But half a mile or so back down the trail, we approached a creek crossing and noticed a well-traveled side trail that led up - likely toward the creek - so we headed up. Aaahh, the perfect shady lunch spot by a fork of the creek where three streams merged into one... We all took off our boots and wiggled our toes in the cool mountain water.
The kids crawled about on the rocks while they ate as Matt and I experimented with various camera exposures on water pictures. I was perched on a rock letting my feet dry out as I watched the kids playing "Pooh sticks" thinking to myself..."I'm a bit far from our packs and the remnants of our lunch. What would I do if a bear came up?" Not 10 seconds later, Matt was the one to sound the bear alarm this time. I couldn't see it from where I was sitting, but stood up quickly and walked up closer to where he was taking pictures. Sure enough, another bear.was wandering between where we were and the trail below. Unfortunately however, this time the other hikers on the trail below had also noticed the bear and were beginning to walk up the hill toward the bear... pushing her toward where we were. Thankfully, she looked up and saw Matt - and headed off on up the hill.
Another day, another bear...I'm not sure this would ever get old. Continuing to lounge by the creek on the rocks, we watched two bucks wander by - perhaps to drink out of the creek. They too were not bothered by our presence. We were just all enjoying the surroundings together... We packed up and left our secret lunch spot reluctantly, but there was more to see and do. Just past where we re-joined the main trail, we looked up to see a deer with a fawn - what looked to be a relatively brand-new fawn, maybe less than a week old. Again, wow. We stood transfixed, as if watching life anew. The deer was very close to the trail, and several hikers passed by, which caused her to become more bothered quickly. It was fascinating to watch her freeze and have the fawn freeze in its position just a few feet away. I mean...freeze...absolutely still. I wish I could get Isaac to stay that still for even 60 seconds at times...
We enjoyed the walk back to the trail head and were hoping to do another hike in a different area, but after searching for a place to park for a good twenty minutes, we gave up and decided to call it an early day and enjoy the swimming hole back at the campground. After all, it takes over an hour just to make the 7,000 foot drop in elevation back down to the park entrance... And it was nice to have some time to relax in camp for a change. The kids swam, I caught up on my blogging, and we all enjoyed dinner and s'mores around the campfire - the perfect way to end our Sequoia fairy tale.
Tracy
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment