Finding the Falls

After being cooped up with sickness for two weeks, Emma went fishing with her Dad, and I took a drive. I didn't know exactly where I wanted to go....just out into the fresh air for a bit. :) I ended up wanting to see if I could find the Toquerville Falls on my own. I've been there a couple times over the past few years, but I never drove, so I didn't remember the way. I had a good little adventure. :) If you'd like to go there, you need to turn on the last road to your right in Toquerville (before the main highway starts to curve and go out to I-15). You'll drive past some houses and a bed & breakfast on the right just before the road turns to dirt. I should have started my odometer, but I didn't. :) I passed by a dead cow and came into a big open dirt area with a bunch of roads going this way and that.....I decided to take the road to the right....it looked more travelled. :)
I didn't feel like I needed 4 wheel drive along this road....and I know I've been on the road before in 2 wheel drive vehicles. If you decide to take this trip, you might want to take a vehicle with good clearance. The road is very rocky and has deep ruts. I drove for a good while before I saw any other roads.
I saw a couple of small side roads that just headed off into the sagebrush. I didn't take any of those...but maybe I will sometime when I go back again.
When the road made me choose right or left, I chose left and up the hill I drove. I passed a few cars along the way coming back down the way I was going up. I passed by a family who was actually hiking up the hill and had left their truck behind. That's strange.....I thought to myself. :) They were the smart ones. :) Right after I saw them, I hit the mud. I think I've made the statement before that I feel overly confident in my Jeep. I thought I would have no problem taking on the mud. Oh, I was wrong. :) I put it in 4 wheel drive and I just kept digging myself into a deeper and deeper hole in the mud. I was alone, out of cell service, stuck up to my running boards in sloshy cold mud. I got scared for a little bit, then tried backing up. It took a few minutes of maneuvering, but I got the Jeep back up onto some dryer mud and made it to the top of the hill. I bet the family I passed just laughed at the silly girl who kept digging herself a hole in the mud. :)
This is what I could see from the top. The town of Toquerville and the valley beyond.
Off the other side of the cliff, I could see Pine Valley Mountain and the tiny road below is I-15. Funny enough, from I-15 looking up, it really doesn't look that high. From way up here, I was a little nervous standing on the edge....it was a long way to fall!
Also up on this hill, some radio towers.
The drive back down the hill was almost as fun as the trip up. The mud was just as slippery and I couldn't really control the steering wheel. :) It didn't last very long though, and I was back on the dry dirt again.
At the bottom of the hill, I turned left and took the right trail to the falls. Can you see the falls in the middle of the desert here?
Driving up to the falls there was a lot of sand and the river. Very pretty. You could walk across the top of the falls if you roll up your pant legs. You could also drive a 4 wheeler across....I wasn't to sure about driving the Jeep across. I decided to take my feet.
An AMAZING waterfall in the very smack middle of the desert.
The sound was like a great roar. I am always inspired by the power of water. Millions of molecules that join together into this giant force that could easily sweep me away.
Why does water roar?
I liked this tree because it seemed to be a symbol of survival to me. It's trunk was charred from a fire, but the outermost branches were still green.
The water fall has two tiers....this second tier goes about 20 feet down into a deep pool.
Then the pool drains into the peaceful river below. I'm not sure which river this is.....I'll have to find out.
This is a beautiful trip, a great place to have a picnic or a bonfire. It's a nice place to meditate. I think I saw some places where people had recently camped. The river is nice to wade in when it gets warm, and the spray off the waterfall is a nice refreshing mist.

Namaste