I was grateful today - which, by the way, is my first 4th July in the USA - that James' parents took us to a waterfall called Fall Creek Falls. The drive there was amazing for a start. You know postcards of places with clear rivers with rapids surrounded by mountains of tall evergreens? Well it was like that... except I was seeing it in real life.
Being in the car I couldn't get a great picture. In fact I think Kai (Marry and Ted's dog) had the best view chilling in the back of the pick-up, his ears flapping in the wind. Below is the best picture I could get of the scenery but really, it doesn't do it justice:
When we got to the bottom of the walk us females used the lovely public toilet. If there is one thing that every country has in common it is bad public restrooms. I remember when I visited the Great Wall of China that the toilets were terrible and dirty and smelly. Plus they didn't have western ones and I am ALL FOR embracing different cultures but seriously... I hate squatting to pee.
Back to the pretty visual images though! It took about 25 minutes walking to get up to the falls and boy, was it beautiful. Marry and I kept stumbling as we looked around marvelling at the wonders Mother Nature had put there. The river was running down creating little mini falls and rapids. And on either side there were tree lined banks.
Many, many trees had fallen across other trees and across the river. I wish that I could explain how the light caught the green mossy trunks with the glittering water below! I enjoyed that these trees were left as they fell, with humans intefering as little as possible in the natural environment. Of course the paths were cleared... mostly... Ted and I helped out a bit:
At the top we spent some time in the cool spray before continuing up. I can now say I have climbed to the top of a waterfall! It was so geargous. Higher up I could see the tree lined mountains on the other side of the valley. They reminded me of when I was skiing in Austria. But Oregon is much more beauiful!
I think I should end before I get carried away. But all in all the trip was really fun, and it was great to get out among the bugs and ferns and posion oak (although we avoided this). I also got to test out my new walking sandals which I bought yesterday for the specific reason of getting to properly explore Oregon's sites.
QUESTION OF THE DAY: WHAT NATURAL BEAUTY WOULD YOU LOVE TO SEE BEFORE YOU DIE?
My answer: I would love to see Milford Sound which is in New Zealand. The water looks crisp and fresh and the fjords so lushcious. I just want to explore New Zealand! Any part will do!
4 comments:
Oh I want to see the karst towers in China. I will brave the bad air and different toilets just to see them. Really, the karst towers are at the top of my list.
I'm not sure I could choose just one natural beauty I'd most like to see, there's so many. Even just in little old Blighty there is beauty to take your breath away (wait till you see our photos of the Farne Islands off the Northumbrian coast - quite possibly the best experience I've ever had on holiday!).
I think I would like to visit somewhere really cold like the Artic Circle, just because I've never been anywhere remotely like that before and I think it would once in a lifetime experience (although you could say that about a lot of other places as well I guess - see, it's too hard to pick!).
BTW there was definitely at least one western toilet at the Great Wall because I remember I only had to use a squat toilet once during the holiday and it wasn't there (and let's face it, there's no way I could have gone the whole day at the Great Wall without using the facilities!).
Glad you had a lovely day and that you get to be in such a beautiful place! Look forward to seeing more pics when you get back :-)
@Heather - China is beautiful. Didn't go to the Yangtze though so I need to go back one day!
@Katherine - Oh I must have forgot. I am pretty definate I used a squat loo though. Maybe you were hogging the Western one lol <3
That place looks shit who took you there? Really you should sort that out.
I think there are too many places in the world that I want to see to just pick one.
I have been informed that I want to see Milford Sound.
Nicholas Sparks wrote a nonfiction book with his brother Micah about a three week vacation they took around the world seeing all these amazing wonders, Like Easter Island the Mayan Temples, Pyramids of Giza and Ayres Rock, The Hanging gardens of Babylon.
I actually saw the Gardens of Babylon while I was in Iraq the first time which was a really cool thing to see.
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