Day 48 - Thursday, 8/6/09 - SETTLED

We are going to find Whiskeytown. It is the first cloudy day we have had so far. 73 degrees. No drama, just clouds leaking droplets.

The woman at the gas station says "Just get on 299 and follow the signs to Eureka. If you miss it, you shouldn't be driving". We miss it.

But we do find Whiskeytown Falls. It is on Mill Creek. The hike is 1.7 miles. It is 63 degrees at 1000 feet. We decide to challenge ourselves.

There is a family coming back with a 6-year old girl in bare feet. We figure if she can do it, so can we. They call her "Iron Feet". Little do we know that most of the hike is at extreme grades. There is no sign rating the degree of difficulty as we had on our UT and NV hikes.

Corinne has been having problems with her Canon PowerShot G2 camera, an oldie but goodie, not holding a charge very well. She has gotten by with charging it every night. After all that effort, we get to Whiskeytown Falls and the camera is dead!

The Falls tumbles down over huge boulders. It is about 300 feet tall, with two main drops, stopping in two pools. It is beautiful and certainly worth the hike. There is one giant tree trunk that has fallen diagonally across it and is worn smooth by the water. We watch a young guy with his dog balance their way across the log. Whoa!

Turns out all that's left of the old Whiskeytown is the cemetery, where the bodies were exhumed and moved.

Crystal Falls is aptly named. The water is perfectly clear. The walk is very quiet, save for a quail, digging a nest for her babies. We hear another bird call echoing in the Ponderosa Pines. We feel as though we have the woods to ourselves.

Today would have been my Mother's birthday, were she still alive (God rest her soul). She passed away 6 years ago. But perhaps she is still watching over me, which is why when I accidentally slam my pinkie finger in the car door, there is a National Park Visitor's Center 300 feet away. They have ice cold water bottles in their refrigerator which I use to keep the swelling down.