Cow Creek Trail/Bridal Veil Falls

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May 082010
 

My hike yesterday was in the much-less-visited northeastern part of Rocky Mountain National Park, a few miles north of Estes Park. It wasn’t my usual craggy-mountain-vista kind of hike, but it was pleasant enough. My ultimate destination was Bridal Veil Falls which, at 20-feet tall, is supposedly the highest waterfall in the park and claimed to be the prettiest by many.

The trail meanders through wide, fairly open meadows, with rocky granite ridges on either side, then enters a thick forest of spruce, ponderosa pine and aspen. Most of the hike was pretty easy until the very end, where a little bit of rock-scrambling is required. The falls were indeed quite lovely. I had planned to hike above the falls, but decided that wasn’t exactly safe since there’s still quite a bit of ice on the rocks and there were no other hikers around to call search and rescue when I fell of the cliff. Maybe next time.

Hiking in this early spring season is kind of weird because the aspen trees are still leafless, the grass is still kind of brownish and there are pretty much no flowers out yet. But it’s hiking nonetheless and it was just great to be out there.

Without a doubt my favorite part of the hike was my interaction with the little golden-mantled ground squirrel below, who obviously thought that I should feed him. I didn’t.

I’ll post more photos in a gallery once I get through the 500+ I took yesterday.

Ponytail Falls

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Mar 282010
 

Ponytail Falls is yet another lovely waterfall in the string of waterfalls found along the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area on the Oregon side of the river. Horsetail Creek takes a hundred-foot free-fall dive over the lip of a basalt cliff, forming Ponytail Falls, aka Upper Horsetail Falls. The lava flow here trapped a soft layer of soil beneath it and the erosive action of the water has undercut the cliff, allowing hikers to walk under the basalt cliff behind the falls. It’s kind of creepy to have all that rock above your head, but the view from behind the falls is stunning.

Blue Lake

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Mar 182010
 

This is where I’m wishing I was today – on the trail to Blue Lake, high in the Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, late summer flowers blooming all around, the high-pitched sound of the pikas yelling at me from the rocks of the talus pile, Mt. Toll looming like a sentinel over the scene.

Latourell Falls

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Mar 122010
 

When traveling east on the Historic Columbia River Highway in Oregon, Latourell Falls is the first of many stunning waterfalls at which one must stop. Latourell Falls is formed where Latourell Creek takes a 249-foot plunge over the edge of a basalt cliff into a pool below. My favorite part (of course) is the backdrop of columnar basalt. (Have I mentioned my fondness for columnar basalt)?

I’m heading out on a hike now… look for the photos tomorrow!

Goðafoss

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Feb 182010
 

I’m having a writer’s block day today as far as the blog goes, so off I go to drag a little something out of the Iceland archives.

Goðafoss is an awesome waterfall in north-central Iceland on the river Skjálfandafljót (don’t ask me how to pronounce that). Goðafoss means “waterfall of the gods” and that has an interesting little story behind it that Wikipedia summarizes like this:

In the year 999 or 1000 the Lawspeaker Þorgeir Ljósvetningagoði made Christianity the official religion of Iceland. After his conversion it is said that upon returning from the Alþingi, Þorgeir threw his statues of the Norse gods into the waterfall.

If you’re ever in the Mývatn district of Iceland, do stop by for a look at Goðafoss.

Skógafoss

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Jan 292010
 

Skógafoss is a magnificent waterfall in the southern part of Iceland. It is also one of the most-visited waterfalls in a country that is bursting at the seams with waterfalls. It was quite a challenge to capture photos of the scene sans people, but I did manage to get a few!

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

Legend has it that the first settler in the area, Þrasi Þórólfsson, buried a treasure chest  in a cave behind Skógafoss. A local boy found the chest years later, but was only able to grasp the ring on the side of the chest before it disappeared again. So apparently the treasure is still there for the taking.

Skógafoss

Skógafoss

Click HERE to view a brief and amateurish video of Skógafoss.

Hraunfossar

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Jan 212010
 

I can tell already that my Iceland folder is going to be my go-to folder when I just need some pretty pics to post. But I don’t mind if you don’t – I could look at Iceland pictures all day long. Iceland is one of those places that just grabs onto you and never seems to let go. Do go there some day if at all possible. (Have I mentioned that it’s probably THE most geo-fascinating place on the planet? If you’re über-geogeeky like I am, feel free to click HERE and read all about the Geology and Geodynamics of Iceland. I dare you).

The falls in the photos below are what first drew my attention to Iceland years and years ago. It’s called Hraunfossar (“lava falls”) and it’s just an amazing sight. Hraunfossar consists of a series of springs that emerges from underneath the edge of the lava field Hallmundarhraun for about 900 feet along the bank of the Hvítá (“white river”). (That’s the Hvítá in the Borgarfjörður region as opposed to the Hvítá in the Árnessýsla region). 

In addition to loving the land that is Iceland, I love the Icelandic language. When you hear someone from Iceland pronounce a word, then you look at the word as written, there doesn’t seem to be any correlation between the two whatsoever. I love it!  I wish the Rosetta Stone people would hurry up and publish an Icelandic series!

But I digress…. back to Hraunfossar:

Hraunfossar

Hraunfossar

Hraunfossar

Hraunfossar

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