Jack

Jack

Sunday, April 3, 2016

Day Hike To King's Canyon

Today we decided to celebrate the last day of the kid's Spring Break with an outing to King's Canyon, which sports a pretty little waterfall, on the outskirts of Carson City.

It's a short hike, only about a half mile each way.  There's a fair bit of rise in elevation to it though, and the trail is steep in spots.

There's some room to park at the trailhead, and judging by the number of cars we weren't the only ones with the idea of a hike today.  But off we went anyway!


There is a nice memorial to three firefighters who died in 1976, people in our area take honoring and caring for the firefighters very seriously as we have serious brush/forest fires around here every year.

A little way up the hill, looking back at the parking area.  I have no doubt that the poor guy who lives in the house on the left is constantly beseiged with people knocking on his door and asking to use the bathroom, the phone, can I get a drink of water, yada yada yada...

Gaining a bit of elevation...

The kid with her trusty walking stick was enjoying herself...

A little further up, looking back again...

The kid channels her inner Muir!
...while her parents cop a squat, rest for a few and enjoy the view.

We get to the top where the cleft and waterfall are and gawk at the pointy, angled rocks on the hill above.

Sadly for me, this is where I am thwarted by the inability to scramble over a small rockfall in order to get to the waterfall.  I have no doubt I would have taken the quick way to the bottom if I'd tried.  Not wanting to end the day at the ER I chose to wait here while J. and the kid explored the waterfall.  It was disappointing, but maybe someday I'll be able to make the climb all the way to the top.

Husband and kid climb the rocks and find the waterfall!  My kid immediately turns into a mountain goat and climbs the rocks.

It's a pretty little thing, from here the water spreads onto the rocky ground to the depth of a few inches, then continues on down the gorge.


The base of the waterfall...

...and where it spreads out before flowing down the gorge, this is looking back at the rockfall I couldn't manage.

People over the years have carved their names into this tree.

The upper part of the waterfall...

We had plenty of company, people taking their kids to enjoy the day.  To everyone's credit, we found absolutely NO trash on our hike.  People are awesome about packing out their trash and the area is pristine.

The kid explores closer...

The moss is inspected...


 ...and pronounced 'slimey and slippery'.

Yup. pretty much.  Anyone who's ever hiked and discovered a waterfall can attest to how treacherous this stuff can be!

After enjoying the waterfall and the view for a while, it was time to head back down.

We'll definitely be back!

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