6/10 of a Mile

After Pfeiffer State Beach we drove down to Julia Pfeiffer State Park to check out a beautiful waterfall. And the beautiful waterfall was closed. A park volunteer who was very sketchy on the details of when and why the waterfall might open again told us that there was if we went on another hike, there was another waterfall sixth tenths of a mile up the trail. So on we went through the sun-dappled redwood forest.







As we met other hikers coming the opposite direction, we asked (1) if we were close and (2) if the waterfall was cool. Most of them smiled and nodded and kept walking. Hmmm... I'm not a good judge of distance or even time, really, but after awhile it definitely felt like more than 6/10 of a mile. Luckily the trail kept us entertained with wild irises.



Finally we met some hikers who told us what the volunteer had not: there is no waterfall. There is a small stream that makes some mini-rapids, but definitely no waterfall. They also told us that the end of the trail was only about another hour, so we figured that if we'd already one "6/10 of a mile" what's another hour?

Another hour = another hour of uphill climbing. But it was definitely worth it for the view at the top.







The first time I'd ever see the curve of the Earth:







Honestly, I don't think we'd have tried this hike--that turned out to be 4.5 miles--if we hadn't been sent on a wild waterfall chase. But how else would I have gotten this deep picture?


Good work, ladies.