Eagle Creek to Punchbowl Falls Hike.. and Alia

Sorry these photos took a while to get posted, I've had one of my oldest friends visit me for a week. I've known her since middle school. She escaped the east coast to California years ago and when we decided to follow suit we made a pact to visit with each other since we wouldn't be that far away. She hopped a train, stayed for about a week then flew home. It was a really awesome time, even though the weather didn't cooperate. She helped me get our sugar ant problem under control using natural substances, gave us a ton more veggie and flower seeds for the garden, and indulged my desire to do crafts with others. We had great conversation as we typically do, she enlightened me of situations going on around the globe and gave me some unique ideas on ways to help out. She showed me some local edible and medicinal plants that I had previously passed over as weeds leaving me marveling at her extensive knowledge of the botanical world. Can't wait till she can come back for a visit, hopefully next time will be during the dry season.

Back to the subject of this post, the Punchbowl falls hike. What an amazingly beautiful four mile hike this was, I'd even wager it's the most spectacular hike we've been on so far. The unfortunate thing about it is that the photos do the least justice of it than any I've ever taken. The sheer scale of this area is beyond belief. The hike starts roughly at sea level and steadily climbs passing over and under half a dozen small waterfalls and streams till you reach  punchbowl falls, an elevation gain of over 400 feet. The kicker is that the trail was blasted out of the side of a sheer cliff and there are no railings. At some points the trail was only 2 feet wide so the only thing keeping you from tumbling down hundreds of feet of rock is common sense and a sure foot. Every time you looked up from concentrating on the path, you would see something new and breathtaking. The view was different but equally beautiful looking forward as it was looking back from where you just came. The light streaming in from some of the tree canopies above made the lichen moss that covers most of the trees glow like a lime green halo. The whole hike followed Eagle creek and the sound of rushing waters below was ever present. The mountain on who's side we were treading continued on up over our heads so far it made our heads spin when we tried to look up at it. We passed all sorts of huge trees and vibrant green ferns and mosses, as well as bare rocky areas with water trickling down the sides. It reminded me of something like nature's version of Tampa's Adventure Island water park... lots of places to get wet. There were some parts of the trail where not getting wet wasn't an option at all, like having to walk through a small waterfall, and through a stream. Good thing we wore (mostly) waterproof shoes. It was incredibly fun though and the water tasted great so at least we didn't mind it getting on our faces. The day was cool and wonderfully sunny, when hiking in the shady parts we kept our jackets bundled tight, but then we would reach these clearings where the sun was shining strong and bright and we outstretched our arms like cormorants do their wings to dry off and warm up. When the trail reached Punchbowl, the view was somewhat obstructed by vegetation, but we could see a place where other hikers had obviously climbed down to a little ledge only the size to be seated on, that overlooked the falls nicely. Getting down there was a bit precarious, and I almost lost our backpack over the edge, but the risk was well worth the reward as we had the best picnic spot anywhere around. At one point when we were done eating we could hear some other hikers hovering above us at the entrance to the climb down point debating whether or not to actually try to go down there. We laughed to ourselves as they watched us climb back up. Only one from the group was brave enough to make the journey over the edge. We left them with the parting words "be careful down there". 

On our hike back to the van, we passed a whitewater kayaker carying his boat up over his shoulder.

 We asked where he was headed and he told us he was gonna kayak over Metlako falls. That waterfall is an even further hike than Punchbowl, and much much higher... a 90 ft.drop in contrast to Punchbowl's 30 ft. Here's some stock images of what he was in for.. see that small red thing?.. that was gonna be him....

 

 

 All we could do was shake our heads and be glad it wasn't us. I'm sure it was going to be a rush unlike any other, but for now, we just like to get our kicks with our feet on the ground.


Here's the link to all the photos from the hike : CLICK HERE FOR PICS

And here's a short video: CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO
remember to make the quality setting at its highest and let load before viewing.

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