Fall Creek Falls

We finally had a couple of non-rainy days in a row. We took advantage of that to go see Fall Creek Falls. 

Since I am so terribly out of shape  :-(   I took pictures starting from the top.

Here's the falls at the top of the trail.

 And just for good measure a quick video.

Here was a little bench facing the falls, but it was soaked from the spray. In fact the jacket I was wearing got quite damp as well from all the spray.

Clyde enjoying a small pool on the side.

From another vantage point.

There was a little side trail to an area called "Job's Garden". It was only 1/4 mile so we took a little detour.

Well, Job's Garden was not what I expected. Just an area with a bunch of rocks. It reminded me of the "Felsenmeer" in Germany we used to go to, only on a much smaller scale.

Back to the trail.

This was probably my favorite part, even more than seeing the waterfall. The trail winds through a small space between a couple of gigantic boulders. This is looking down at a portion of the "mini slot canyon" from the trail above.

The top side opening of the slot trail. If you look closely you can see Hubby at the point the trail makes a right angle turn... Or left angle turn as the case may be.

Clyde and Hubby in the open area beyond the slot part of the trail.

And just for fun another video of going through this part of the trail.

Like I said I took the photos from the top to the bottom. Here's the trailhead sign.

Clearwater Falls

On our way home from one of our other adventures we decided to do a quick stop at Clearwater Falls. There is a parking area separate from a camping area. A fairly short walk up the trail from the parking lot takes you to the top of the falls.

It looks like there is another camping area across from the river at the top.

You can see that it is a well named river.

Getting closer to the actual "fall".

Closer...

...The edge where it is falling!

I had a hard time getting good pictures because the lighting was so weird. It was very bright in the sun and especially where the sun hit the water, yet dark in the shadowy parts.  The flash kept going on  while in the automatic mode so I tried turning it off and taking the picture that way. I think without the flash on they turned out better.

One interesting thing I noticed was that though it was a warmish day when we walked to the viewing area at the foot of the falls the temperature got cooler by about 20 degrees. It was very refreshing.

Rock Pile And Illahee Area

While we were exploring the Illahee area we were way high in the mountains and drove by an interesting looking pile of rocks just off the road. How can a pile of rocks look interesting? One reason was because they were the only big boulders like that in the area.     

We had to stop and investigate.

Unfortunately the pictures don't show how truly interesting the formation is. 

There was a little area that wasn't a cave, but it was a good size overhang.

It was obvious that we weren't the first ones there. There was a homemade bench of a log on two rocks and a little fire ring.

It was fun exploring the area. The big boulders made mini canyons and doorways to magical imaginary places. 

And then I looked up and saw this:

In case you can't tell it's a giant round boulder balancing on a couple of other rocks. Remember this is over head!

Check out this hairy tree and the cavelet underneath.

There were nooks and crannies everywhere. This would have been a fun area to camp overnight. Just one night.

On the way down the mountain we looked through a clearing of the trees and saw the Illahee Lookout on top of the opposite mountain.

There it is! We'll see if we can get closer one of these days. This lookout is still active.

And we got to the Illahee Flats Campground. This is where the trail head is.

The campgrounds were really nice. Look at this bathroom. One of the nicest I've seen in a campground. I dare say "cute". 

There's a little "USFG" stamp on the wood above the handle. 

Also in the campground was this covered fireplace. Very cozy.

And for those nonrainy nights there is an open fire pit with convenient benches and picnic table.

I guess if you want a little less rustic than camping in the rocks this would be a great place too!