Cindy Lou: Holy Smokes!!! Day Three

We woke up again around 7:30 with severe back pain...this rock bed is brutal. We'll have to buy a memory foam pad next time we go camping in case it happens again. We were feeling pretty sore so we decided to do an easier hike, even though the hike I had planned was even longer than the day before. We were still going to see the waterfall but instead of doing a long loop with the waterfall on the way, we would just hike to the waterfall and back, 5 miles total. Then if we felt up to it, we'd hit the nature trail that was just by our campground area.

We left around 10AM. This time around, we packed a bunch of food and drinks so we wouldn't run out like last time. There was a lot more people on this trail, the Gabes Mountain Trail. We passed by people going towards the falls and coming back from the falls. Ahhh, never did I think it would be nice to see people on a trail but after last time not seeing anyone, this was heaven.

2.5 miles later, we get to the waterfall area. Not amazing but not horrible either. It was definitely better than the Devil's Lake waterfall we had encountered earlier that summer but not as great as the waterfall in Hawaii where we actually got to swim towards it and let the water fall onto our heads. I got as close as possible to the falls. It was a bit dangerous since the rocks were jagged and slippery. The water was really cold and I used it to cool myself down, even took a sip to see how it was but was afraid to drink too much. We then relaxed for a bit and ate some lunch and some snacks. Enjoyed the nature around us.

Check out the bridge made of wood

Hen Wallow Falls

Falls from below

Getting as close to the falls as possible.
The water was surprisingly cold.

Trying not to hurt myself

Joshua and the falls

I heart this pic of Joshua

And this one too

Joshua and I and his creepy eyes at the falls

After spending some time at Hen Wallow Falls, we hiked the 2.5 miles back. I don't know why but this was the part of the hike that I kept tripping and tripping and tripping. I even ended up falling down, slightly spraining my ankle. But I just got back up and kept hiking. I think that in previous years from high school, I sprained my ankle so much that there's nothing left to sprain. We had planned to do the nature hike since it was still early in the day but Joshua didn't want to since I fell down twice and hurt myself. But I convinced him I was fine when we got to the end of the trail so we headed towards the nature hike trail.

The nature hike trail wasn't too bad...a one mile loop. We purchased the nature hike guide which told us a few things about, well, nature. It had number marks on the guide and on the trail so we could see what we were reading about. We saw a bunch of salamanders and butterflies. Even a shelter that was built a loooooooooong time ago with stones. After that hike, we finally headed back to the campsite.

What a weird tree!

We got back around 1:30PM. We had some time to kill until our friends would show up. Woohoo! They were driving from WI from visiting their families and needed a place to stay before the wedding. Since we were already camping out, we were happy to share our campsite and tent. While waiting around, Joshua and I threw the frisbee around, played some catch and played some card games...and drank more beers.

Finally around 6:30, our friends Diane and Brett showed up. Time to get the party started! Not really. We just ended up making dinner...hot dogs that they brought, drank more, roasted some marshmallows for some s'mores, and played some cards. It was good times hanging out with friends. But the good times had to be put on hold for some sleep. We have a long day ahead of us.