Chilnualna Falls (if there was any water.)

In a world where superlatives are used as a matter of course to hype ordinary, everyday events and experiences when you need words to describe a truly exceptional activity the words to convey that experience become impossible to find. Awesome used to be a word to describe something truely spectacular, now it is a commonplace word. The guy at the checkin desk at out hotel in Cambria hyperventalated with superlatives as I dutifully completed a simple registration form.

Which leads me on to today's blip. There are no words to describe the experience of today's hike which we did really on the spur of the moment. When asking at the front desk of the resort what not to miss in Wawona we were offered a few gentle strolls around flat trails that included a golf course (for heaven's sake). So I looked again at the trail maps and spotted this hike, 4 miles out to the Chilnualna Falls and 4 miles back.

The hike took us up over 2000 feet of ascent, through redwoods and other trees, through hot open spaces and cool dappled shade to reach the site of these Falls. Although there was just a trickle of water it was a very special place and worth the effort 10 times over. You can just see Susan in the middle distance and if you look closely you can also see a couple of water bottles cooling in the potholes.

It's hard to imagine what this must be like during the spring melt. You wouldn't be standing here for sure as you'd be blasted out over the lip of the waterfall behind where this shot was taken.

Once back down we had a restorative cup of tea, followed by an even more restorative beer, then barbequed sausages accompanied by a salad and a nice glass of Californian red.

I'm writing this entry stitting on the deck of our cabin at 9.00pm, in the darkness and almost perfect quietness (apart fron the rather penetrating voice of a woman from the next cabin who seems to be able to project her voice to impressive effect - goodness knows what it must be like in their cabin). We're over 4000 feet up in the Sierra Nevada in the second week in September and the temperature outside where I'm sitting is still 21c