Turn left at the stop sign, go just a ways and it is on your right. Right. Still looking for that one, don’t know how many times we drove back & forth on that section of the highway, no signs, no mile markers no visual sighting of the waterfall. So we gave up and headed for numbers two and three on the map. We also had a brochure that described the waterfalls, hiking distance from the trail heads, trail difficulty, Etc, Etc. Water fall number two said it was a 2 mile, one way hike, difficult trail with an elevation change of 800 feet. Hey, we had a photograph of the thing, who needs to feel the spray anyway. So we headed to number 3. This one was more like it, about a hundred yard walk on almost level ground on a well traveled path to the waterfall. Not that spectacular, but it was only a hundred yards and it was “easy”.
I almost said I would get some great photos but at this point in our travel I couldn’t find where I stored my cameras. Tore the camper inside out and still no cameras. So I had to use my not so good quality iphone (and not the one with the good camera system, it’s an old one Apple is about to stop supporting).
Waterfall 4 was too far off the highway so we headed to number 5 was where Priss tried to kill me, literally. This hike was 8 tenths of a mile one way, began sort of level then turned into a trail where I was sure I’d find dead, exhausted bodies strewn everywhere as the trail got steep, then more steep. Before we reached the waterfall I was sure my body would have to be hauled out by helicopter and that was ok with me as long as I didn’t have to walk out. Priss was whining as much as me with her broken toe, my complaint was just being too old, fat and out of shape to take on such a foolish trek. When we finally reached the top the waterfall was actually very pretty, even made us forget our agony for a little bit. The fall was about 300’, the tallest waterfall in Oregon and had a lot of water going over the cliff, still a lot of snow melt going on. After several debates we headed back down, much slower going down than up, different & more things hurt going down than going up. Priss even told several hikers going down faster than us about her broken toe and hinted about a piggy back ride but I don’t think they understood her southern accent. They would just smile and walk faster.
Somehow we made it to the bottom, recouped for a while then headed for number 6 and 8. The brochure made number 7 sound too much like number 5 so that was a automatic “Ah, Hell NO.” Numbers 6 and 8 were much smaller falls but all falls have their own personality, just something about water falling instead of running in a stream or river that makes it more interesting. Must be primal or something.
Crater Lake To Crescent City
After we waterfalled, or waterfelled all day we went back to camp and prepared to leave the next morning. From Crater Lake we drove to Crescent City, CA. This drive took us from an elevation of about 8,000’ to 16’, and actually 0 because we went to the beach. But the camper was at 16’. Good mileage on that leg of the trip. Diesel in Oregon is about the same as in Arizona, about $4.50 a gallon. But remember, in Oregon it is illegal to pump your own fuel. An attendant has to do that for you. And they are trained to put the fuel at the slowest setting possible to take the maximum amount of time possible to fill your tank. I guess it’s an hourly thing. Anyway, it would be great if they would wash the windows, check the oil, tire pressure and all, but they don’t, they just pump the fuel. Overall it is a great way to create much needed jobs for people. In California diesel was $5.99 a gallon around Crescent City & you had to pump it yourself. I think Oregon & New Jersey are the only two states that require attendants pump fuel.
We pulled into a Speedway station in Grants Pass OR to top off with fuel before entering California. They were pretty busy but not over the top. The attendant came to us and said after they fueled the vehicles in line they were shutting down for half an hour or so. Really? Turning customers away? I thought that was the single objective of a business, getting customers and taking their money. Must have been a Grants Pass OR thing, we haven’t seen that issue anywhere we have traveled, or maybe the attendants had an agreement for a break, but if so, why not stagger the breaks and keep the place open?
Short stay in Crescent City so we spent a little of our time viewing the beach, lighthouse and town and most of our time viewing the great Redwood trees in the area. Here they aren’t as big and majestic as the ones in Sequoia National Park but they are over 300’ tall and many are easily 10-12 feet in diameter. Quite a tree compared to the Saguaros around Tucson. Trees are like waterfalls, it’s just calming to be around them.
On one of our walks through the Stout Redwood Grove we passed a guy hiking with his cat. Yep, I said cat. The cat was on the guy’s shoulder and neck just enjoying the hike. The guy said the cat hikes with him everywhere. The guy has a backpack so when the cat gets tired or bored he just goes into the backpack and has a nap as the hiking continues. I took several photos and showed them to Stuart hoping to embarrass him and get him inspired but he just yawned, rolled his eyes and went back to sleep. I’ll try again when I can get his attention.
Starting at Crescent City CA on the 101 and heading north tomorrow.
Later.
-Tom