"I keep on falling..."

Apologies to Alicia Keys. Another Falls post... ML and I did our own little Peas outing yesterday and hiked to a nearby waterfall. The trailhead is about 2 miles from my house, practically in my backyard! Perfect day for hiking--coolish, a breeze, sun, and not too many people. The rivers/falls have started going down, but there was still a lot of water. In the summer this falls is just a thin little ribbon. But now it is glorious!

This is the "middle" portion of the upper falls--there is another cascade higher up, beyond the rock on the left (you can see the mist from the cascade) but the trail was super muddy and very uninviting. Really tricky exposure for me, since the falls were in deep shadow in the gorge, but then there was the bright sun hitting areas. Sun in the NW is a photographer's double-edged sword. It is SO nice to see the sun shining, but then it blows everything out. When the clouds roll in, we cheer, or at least give a little sigh of relief.
Detail from above. Lots of water churning through that small area. I wish you could hear the roar. You couldn't speak in a normal tone of voice. This is the "big drop" of the lower falls. Just spectacular. It's 135'.
Part of the path. This glen was in the shade, except for that one section of vine maples where the sun hit them and illuminated them. You can see the moss and ferns growing on everything.
Part of the trail along the river--ML and I called it Fern Valley, because everything was covered with sword ferns. It was gorgeous!
And, of course, a little bit of slow water in the river. I liked the way the sun was hitting the moss on the rock in the foreground.