Horsetail Falls

DATE: Friday, July 24, 2020
DISTANCE: 4.62 km / 2.87 miles
ELEVATION GAIN: 206m / 675’
TIME TAKEN: 2:24
ELDORADO NATIONAL FOREST
DESOLATION WILDERNESS
EL DORADO COUNTY, CA
SOUNDTRACK: Hysteria: Night Closing In

PHOTO ALBUM
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...continued.

…and woke up at 1:30AM! My body hates me! It will not allow me to go to bed early, so I can wake up early. I just lay there, until at least 4:30, tossing and turning on the van seat, pausing occasionally to stare at the stars. Can’t get up and watch a movie or something when you have insomnia in the woods. Finally got back to sleep, and because of the interruption, slept in until about 9AM, again crushing my plans to rise and hike before or at sunrise. Ugh, I’m bad at this. I decided to head to Kyburz, where I was to meet up with Amber, and maybe find a short hike to do along the way. I took Highway 4 to 89. Stopped in Meyers, south of Lake Tahoe, for supplies. People were streaming into the lake area, and almost every trailhead I had passed looked slammed. Friday in July! During a pandemic! What a curious world. Luckily I as headed to a private campsite, and could be away from the crowds. 

In Kyburz, Amber was already established in the camp, with guests Melanie and James. I almost instantly had a shot of rum in my hand, fun times ahead, but bad news for hiking motivation! After hanging out, swimming and eating dinner, I motivated the gang of city slickers to do a shirt hike. Amber chose Horsetail Falls as the destination, and Melanie and James came with. It was a sunset hike, starting at about 7:15PM. Pyramid Creek and Horsetail Falls seemed to be much more raging than my previous visit on July 4. From summer thunderstorm rain? The granite canyon was lit pink from the sunset light, and magic filled the air. We hiked up to the base of the main falls, and it’s plunge pool. It was cool to re-visit a favored area so soon again. We returned to the trailhead by flashlight with minimal difficulty. Back at Kyburz Camp, it was to be a night of high revelry and merrymaking on the South Fork American River.

...to be continued.

FURTHER READING
•Alltrails: This is basically it
•Tahoe South: And again
•Roots Rated: And again