Hike with friends!

Yesterday was an eyeopening day for Aaron and I. We realized we have yet to scratch the surface of exploring the beauty, wonder, and downright SPECTACULARNESS of this place we call home. Some friends of ours suggested we plan a day to go on a hike to Mist Falls. It's a about an hour drive from Hume and a 9 mile hike. The weather forecast was looking kind of bleak for the weekend but when we woke up yesterday and it was only a 30% chance of rain/snow we decided we'd take our chances.

First of all, the drive is just incredible! You drive into the deepest canyon in North America, yes deeper than the Grand Canyon! It stretches 8000 feet from bottom to top in some places. The Sequoia National Forest is also home to the tallest mountain in the contiguous 48 states, Mt.Whitney, standing at 14,494 feet. Within the King's Canyon National Park the canyon is wide and flat on the bottom and covered with forests, meadows, and cut through by the King's River. Which is rushing with full force right now because of the heavy winter and all the snow melt. The sides of the canyon are absolutely stunning. Sheer, granite cliffs, towering over you. This is where we began our hike! It was just beautiful!

It started out not too cold and partly cloudy, but as we neared the falls it began to snow and the clouds rolled in! By the time we reached Mist Falls we were all pretty cold and the freezing mist spraying off the raging falls was not very pleasant on an already frozen face. It was an amazing sight though! Luckily our friend Nathan came prepared with a portable stove and hot chocolate! It may have been the best cup of hot chocolate I've ever tasted. So we found a dry spot and ate our PB&J's and enjoyed something hot to drink before booking it back to the car.

It was a great hike and incredible to see the roaring river and waterfall! And the snow surely made it memorable! We're thinking the next time we will go towards the end of summer when it's warm and you can jump in the water!

When we got home we had our hiking buddies over for a some chill time. Cranked up the fireplace, heated up some lasagna, threw on our sweats and watched a couple episodes of Fringe...some well deserved relax time! Great day guys!