QUICKIE
I really wanted to go out for a hike this weekend, but I did not want to go far or do anything hard. My daughter Nekoda also wanted to come with me, and she also just wanted a very easy hike. So, I decided to go back to Iowa Canyon Falls, a very easy one that I have been to multiple times before. But in typical madman fashion, it did not turn out to be quite so easy.
The road was gated due to construction. This would add 3 miles round trip to the hike, and a steep uphill climb walking back up the road from the river. It was late in the day, so we might even have to walk back in the dark. Well, I was okay with this. Was Nekoda okay with it? Yes, she said let’s go for it. So we did.
It was a very pleasant walk going “down” to the river. Much of the road follows the creek, and there were quite a few spring wildflowers along the road as well. Once down at the river, we saw a lot of construction going on. What the heck are they doing down here? It was a big mess, and it seemed like a major construction effort. I have no clue. It is almost as if they are building a powerhouse down here or something. Indeed, I just looked it up (being curious) and it seems they *are* building a powerhouse here. Ugh.
It is a short jaunt from here to walk up the creek to the falls. There were ticks and poison oak, a plenty! But we made it up the waterfall overlook, and Nekoda sat on the rocks while I took my photos. I also really wanted to go to the upper falls (which I think is a lot nicer than the lower falls), however … the poison oak was absolutely ridiculous along the short trail to the upper falls. It was horrific! Nekoda did not want to trounce through the oak to the falls, and I did not want to either, so we turned around and hiked back up the road to the car. The climb back up the road was not really so bad, and we arrived back at the car well before dark. It was a quick and short hike to a pretty little waterfall.