Showing posts sorted by relevance for query falls. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query falls. Sort by date Show all posts

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Burney & McCloud Falls, California

Burney Falls is the 129-foot-high result of multiple outlets of year-round 42-degree spring water, bursting forth from under the Earth's crust for our edification. A spectacular experience!

First glimpse before descending into the cool valley.



The road to Burney Falls is paved with many stones.



Well worth a visit.




Nearby McCloud Falls has three levels of falls and good swimming. Easy access, either by walking or driving to the three conveniently located parking lots for all three falls. The trail is an easy uphill slope along the river. But watch out for bees. One stung me on the lip, which was weird. Perhaps it was a wasp. Anyway, it was aggressive, and helped me build some character.





Monday, April 1, 2013

Hedge Creek Falls - Dunsmuir, California

You're going to drive down the road a bit, off the highway
Look for the sign that looks like a train
This town used to be called Pusher
'cause they pushed trains up the hill here

Walk down the slippery sloping path
shiny with wet mud from drips and drops
Berry bushes aren't Poison Oak
they're jaggedy around the edges, see?
See the thorns? That's to protect the berries.
Poison Oak wants you to touch it.

Keep going, you're almost there.
Boulders sound like what they are.
There must have been water rushing through here
like nobody's business
hundred, two-hundred-thousand years ago

Is that your Mom?
Tell her it's OK to walk under the overhang
It's not too slick under the chute
Tell her stagecoach robbers used to hide under there
before robbing the coach
She afraid?
Tell her that crag's not going anywhere
for another hundred-thousand years








To get to Hedge Creek Falls from Weed, go south on Interstate 5 to the first exit for Dunsmuir, Take an immediate right on the frontage road at the bottom of the offramp; you will see a small park and parking area on your left, Park there; the trail to the falls begins next to a rock fountain that overlooks the Sacramento River canyon. - Hedge Creek Falls

Poem #1 - NaPoWriMo

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Tuesday, September 2, 2014

Devil's Postpile and Rainbow Falls - Mammoth Lakes, California

Be sure to visit these two natural wonders. Rainbow Falls contains an actual rainbow within its waters. Devil's Postpile National Monument is one of the largest columnar basalt formation in the world. More about this trip, including bristlecone pines—the oldest living organisms on the planet—on the blog, here. (Bristlecone pine post coming soon.)








Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Columbia River Gorge Waterfalls Go Crazy

If you're in the Portland area, head east along the Historic Highway and be amazed at the amount of water spilling everywhere. Must be quite a snow-melt this year.

Latourell Falls


Ponytail Falls

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Palouse Falls descent - now THAT'S crazy



Amazing photographs in the Oregonian today. I hope they don't mind if I show them here. First one is by Eric Boomer, showing Tyler Bradt kayaking straight down in freefall over the 186-foot Plouse Falls.

The second one is by Ross William Hamilton--an incredible photo of Washington's beauty. I wish we could have explored Washington more fully while we were here. We're constantly amazed by the stunning natural wonders of the neighboring states.

By the way, Bradt made it out alive with only a sore wrist. Video of his drop is here.

Source: OregonLive

Wednesday, December 10, 2008

Symbolic Trees of Cinema - "All That Heaven Allows" 1955

Douglas Sirk's 50s-era melodramas always do it for me. I love the shiny smooth trappings of upper-middle class existence, always revealing their loveless, shallow core by film's end.

In All That Heaven Allows, well-to-do widow Cary Scott (Jane Wyman--looking all of 38 with those uptight hair curls) falls for her handsome gardener, Ron Kirby (Rock Hudson, as always in the 50s, looking good). Ron lives off the land and could care less about material goods. Cary would love to marry him and live in his quaintly converted barn-house, complete with dappled creek and delicately tip-toeing deer, but alas, her peers and grown children look down on the match and make her feel sleazy for considering a love that dare not speak its name. I am so glad I didn't live in the 50s.

Anyway, Ron's all about trees. He's studying to be an arborist and his favorite book is "Walden Pond." Here, he shows Cary a lovely fir specimen from his yearly crop. Ah, romance!

Wednesday, January 7, 2015

Whiskeytown Lake / Crystal Creek Falls, California

Whiskeytown Lake is the site of a former mining town that was dammed in 1963. It's a popular recreation area with four neighboring waterfalls that are fairly accessible. The annual Waterfall Challenge takes place in April—hike to all four waterfalls within the designated week either on your own or alongside a scheduled ranger-led excursion. That's a scenic challenge.

Whiskeytown's National Recreational Area site is here.




Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Wahkeena Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon


Last time we were here
the kids were little
watching the foam
rush through the rocks

Five years is
half a life-time
in kid years


Poem #9 - NaPoWriMo

Thursday, April 11, 2013

The Opposite of Crow



The opposite of crow
is snow.

Snow is quiet.
Crow's a riot.

Snow falls down.
Crow pecks the ground.

Crow alights
to nest and fight

snow beneath
its clawy feet.


Poem #11 - NaPoWriMo

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Oregon





Falling water
hurtles down
like weighty wind
shooshing and
vooming
sending weather
all around
It is happening
always happening
It is happening
right now


Poem #6 - NaPoWriMo

Monday, April 27, 2009