Trained Waterfall

The morning started later than we planned and the weather threatened to dump on us the entire drive to Dunsmuir but somehow we made it when it was still dry. I haven't been there in a number of years and since we weren't positive if we'd be able to stop I failed to print up a map in advance. Boy, will that teach me! I haven't been there in several years and it's a little tucked back anyway. The places I was recognizing were because I had done u-turns in them but I wasn't sure which way I was heading when I did them. Needless to say, my GPS (and Cliff's) sucked and my memory failed too. I got really frustrated (at myself and the situation) so Cliff stopped at a hotel (my suggestion) for directions and we found it in minutes. 


I don't think Cliff took me seriously when I told him that we shouldn't meander on the way to the waterfall, that we should walk with purpose. As my luck would have it, a train did come while we were walking naturally in the most narrow section of track. Cliff yelled at us to run which freaked out Alex a wee bit. Cliff took the baby (he's much faster running with her than I am) and Alex darn near tried to jump off the cliff into the river below. I grabbed his hand and we ran as fast as we could on the uneven tracks to the next wide opening. Poor Alex was really freaked out and kept trying to get off the tracks (the only other options were a rock wall and a steep cliff to the river) while I tried to explain (while running of course) that's we're better off on the tracks where we can run faster than falling into the river where we will surely die. We made it with several minutes before the train arrived. I was happy for it's horn because I did not hear the tracks hum this time like I have in the past. 


We were only a few minutes from Mossbrae Falls and when Alex saw it all his earlier jitters went away. I love that place! This was my first time visiting in the fall and all the colors were amazing. We were the only ones at the waterfall (we arrived right as a couple of backpacking photographers were leaving) so we had the view and quiet (if you can call a waterfall quiet) all to ourselves. It was so peaceful. On the walk back we passed 2 other couples and another train came right after we got to the truck. It was windy so we popped out our backpacking stove and heated a cup of soup on the tailgate and served the kids the tuna packs we planned for lunch. 

The drive from Dunsmuir to Klammath Falls was pretty short (foggy) and we were very grateful for getting to stay at Shannon's new house. I loved how cute it was! She cooked some freezers pizzas for us and we feasted on chips, pizza, and wine. It was fantastic just hanging out sitting on the floor, chatting, eating, and  catching up.