Leon Turnbull Photography

It was not too cold during the night. Of course I slept awful anyway, but it was supposed to be below freezing and it wasn’t. Perhaps it was 40 degrees, but I don’t think it was colder than that.

I woke up at sunrise, packed up, ate breakfast, and started hiking down the mountain. I wanted to get going before the mosquitoes woke up, and I did. I encountered a few of them on the hike back, but really they were not too bad at all.

I was super tired when I reached the bottom of Horsetail Falls. The terrain is very rocky and it is so hard on the feet. It took me 5.5 hours to get to the car, and it is only about 6.5 miles. That tells you how difficult the terrain is. I encountered zero people on the hike from Waterfall Camp to the bottom of Horsetail Falls (except for one person I saw camped at Pyramid Lake). From the bottom of Horsetail Falls to the trailhead, I encountered about 1000 people. (give or take). The parking lot was completely full. It is a Monday! Why are there so many people doing this hike on a Monday! It is not a holiday. Don’t you have to work?

And of course, I picked up all your trash as well, people. There was a lot of it I saw along the trail. One piece was literally within 10 feet of the garbage can at the bottom of the trail. What the %#$&*? All you hikers that passed by the litter along the way and did not bother to help clean up the trail, why can’t you please help out?  I found a sock which someone had dropped, probably accidentally, but someone else had come along and placed it in plain view with a rock on it so it would not blow away. Seriously, why would you not just carry this obvious piece of garbage down the mountain with you? No one is going to come all the way back up the mountain another day to retrieve their old sock. Really? Just three pieces people. Come on. Well, anyway, the Horsetail Falls trail is now clean (for one day at least). You are welcome.

This is Lower Waterfall Camp Falls, about 40 ft. high. It drops right into Lake Aloha. Such an amazing place in the Desolation Wilderness.