From Placid to Roiling

 

Talking with a couple at some other tourist stop, I heard Rainbow Falls described as being as calm and smooth as oil and then transforming suddenly into a roiling, boiling mess. The photo above captures the oily smooth part of that... I'll post a couple more of the falls in subsequent posts.

I didn't make Rainbow falls on the way up. The gate closes at 3 pm during the fall, and its a long hike in. In fact, I just barely cleared the gate on the way home. I am glad I did make it. It was lightly raining, and I literally ran down the boardwalk along the falls hoping that I didn't slip and fall down the myriad of stairs. (I was careful near the falls - since they looked like they'd do worse to me than a fall down wet stairs would.) Amusingly, after surviving wet slippery stairs and wet rocks near the falls, I slipped and twisted my knee only about 1 step from the parking lot on my way back to the car. The damage wasn't severe - but enough to leave me limping and cursing on my way to the car, nervously glancing at my watch, fearing that I'd be locked in.