Boyz Trip 6

Our camp-neighbors had told us that there was a way to hike up to the left of this waterfall and get to the ridge that ran above our camp, where there were some great views.



So Matt, Smitty and I crashed through some undergrowth and climbed up next to the waterfall. Here's Matt and I alongside it:



And Matt standing near the top of the falls:



We continued on up to the top of the ridge, where the views were indeed incredible - every way you turned, there were breathtaking views. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves here:









Those last three are part of a panorama that, for some reason, I wasn't able to stitch together. Here's one more, with me in it:



Anyway, we started to hike back down to camp, and to avoid some of the annoying crashing through trees, we skirted a little closer to the river. At one point, we rounded a big rock right next to the river, and I stopped to take this picture of Matt:



After I took the picture, I put the camera back in my pocket and turned around. It looked a little slippery right in front of me, so I stepped beyond what I thought was the slippery part. Apparently I didn't make it quite far enough, because I slipped and went right into the river. Didn't hit any rocks; I went right into a deep part - in fact, it was over my head. When I came up, the first thing I saw was my hat floating in front of me, so I grabbed it. The second thing I saw was a big rock at the side of the river, so I grabbed it and pulled myself out. That's when I realized how close to the top of the falls I had been - about 15 yards. (A trip over those falls probably wouldn't have killed me, but definitely would have broken a few things...) Matt and Smitty picked their way over the slippery section and came to where I was standing - My heart was racing fast enough that I wasn't cold at all. Anyway, we continued down, pumped some water for dinner, and headed back to camp, where I changed into dry clothes.

More later...