Thursday was a wonderful day! My sister, Trudy, was in town. We needed to do something. We momentarily thought about going to the gym and doing an aerobics class. But that didn't sound quite right. So I suggested we drive west to the White Tanks and walk/hike the Waterfall Trail.
This is a very easy trail. It is classified as handicapped accessible so you know it can't be too tough. I've done it lots of times. Each time we had hopes of seeing water in the waterfall. To see water actually falling from the "box canyon" and into the small pool beneath would be a first. We had gone different times of the year and never yet actually seen the waterfall in action. We made trips just after rain storms thinking the waterfall might be running but never caught it right.
That all changed the day I took Trudy to the Tanks. We have had a very wet month of January. And actually February has been pretty wet too. We have had rain - good rain - every week of February so far. So even though it hadn't rained for several days - I guess the watertable is high and the water can't soak into the desert floor and there was water in the waterfall. Side note - the desert was green - very green! I've never seen the desert mountains out there so covered with green growth. It was amazing!
So we started hiking. As we neared the end of the trail we could hear running water. There was actually a small stream of water flowing into the normally dusy and dry creek bed. That was a very hopeful sign. Then as we sort of rounded one of the last corners we saw that there was water on the manmade steps in the trail that we would have to wade through in order to get around to see the falls. Neither of us hesitated. We rolled up our pant legs and plodded on through. And sure enough as we got around that last bend we were graced with a glorious view. Water flowing over the waterfall. It wasn't gushing. But the flow was steady and clear and cool. There was another group of "older" hikers who had been there many times and were just as excited to see the waterfall in action for the first time. They waited for us to report on the waterfall - then they too rolled up their pants and waded in to get a glimpse.
This is a very easy trail. It is classified as handicapped accessible so you know it can't be too tough. I've done it lots of times. Each time we had hopes of seeing water in the waterfall. To see water actually falling from the "box canyon" and into the small pool beneath would be a first. We had gone different times of the year and never yet actually seen the waterfall in action. We made trips just after rain storms thinking the waterfall might be running but never caught it right.
That all changed the day I took Trudy to the Tanks. We have had a very wet month of January. And actually February has been pretty wet too. We have had rain - good rain - every week of February so far. So even though it hadn't rained for several days - I guess the watertable is high and the water can't soak into the desert floor and there was water in the waterfall. Side note - the desert was green - very green! I've never seen the desert mountains out there so covered with green growth. It was amazing!
So we started hiking. As we neared the end of the trail we could hear running water. There was actually a small stream of water flowing into the normally dusy and dry creek bed. That was a very hopeful sign. Then as we sort of rounded one of the last corners we saw that there was water on the manmade steps in the trail that we would have to wade through in order to get around to see the falls. Neither of us hesitated. We rolled up our pant legs and plodded on through. And sure enough as we got around that last bend we were graced with a glorious view. Water flowing over the waterfall. It wasn't gushing. But the flow was steady and clear and cool. There was another group of "older" hikers who had been there many times and were just as excited to see the waterfall in action for the first time. They waited for us to report on the waterfall - then they too rolled up their pants and waded in to get a glimpse.
So my message to our family and friends who we have taken to this place in the past (Gillespie's, Brown's, Lacy's, and any others):
There is water in the waterfall! We are expecting rain again this weekend. So if any of you are interested in seeing it, come on over and I'll go with you on Monday. Even if you don't come I might still go out myself. After all, in the desert you don't see water in the waterfall very often so I better take advantage while I can.
No comments:
Post a Comment