{"id":1989,"date":"2021-12-29T20:58:36","date_gmt":"2021-12-30T01:58:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/midwestapologetics.org\/blog\/?p=1989"},"modified":"2021-12-29T22:05:45","modified_gmt":"2021-12-30T03:05:45","slug":"a-year-of-waterfalls-and-hiking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/midwestapologetics.org\/blog\/?p=1989","title":{"rendered":"A Year of Waterfalls and Hiking"},"content":{"rendered":"

2021 has been a busy year for me, but my normal duties are not the only reason for this. In addition to my work for the Ark Encounter and Creation Museum, I have published four books this year\u2014the final three novels in The Truth Chronicles<\/em><\/a>\u00a0and an additional book in the series titled The Extras<\/em><\/a>, which includes a study guide, brief prequel, concept art, author interview, etc. I’ve also taken several classes, which included travel, listening to lectures, writing papers, etc.<\/p>\n

But this post is about something far more adventurous. I had the opportunity to hike at a bunch of state parks, national parks, and national forests during 2021. Many of those locations included waterfalls, so I thought I would share some pictures from those hikes to show off some of the amazing scenery that can be found in the United States.<\/p>\n

Other than the local hiking trails I use for training, my first hike was at the end of March. After touring the Marengo Cave in southern Indiana, we hiked the Hemlock Cliffs National Scenic Trail. Located a couple hours from my home, my wife and I visited this short trail with my aunt and cousin in March.<\/p>\n

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Inside Marengo Cave<\/p><\/div>\n

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Casey standing behind waterfall #1 at Hemlock Cliffs<\/p><\/div>\n

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Behind waterfall #2 at Hemlock Cliffs<\/p><\/div>\n

A month later, I spoke at a church conference near Duluth, Minnesota and at another conference in southwestern Wisconsin. During those two weeks, I did a fair amount of hiking and visited several state parks, including Rib Mountain SP (WI), Pattison SP (WI), Gooseberry Falls SP (MN), and Tettegouche ST (MN). I also hiked the Timm’s Hill National Trail (WI) and the Chaffee Creek segment of the Ice Age Trail (WI). Unfortunately, they didn’t spell “Tim” or “Chaffey” correctly.<\/p>\n

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From the bridge over Chaffee Creek on the Ice Age Trail.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The tip of the rock behind me is the very top of Rib Mountain, once thought to be the highest point in Wisconsin.<\/p><\/div>\n

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From the top of Big Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park in NW Wisconsin.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Little Manitou Falls in Pattison State Park<\/p><\/div>\n

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One of two signs I could find to indicate that I was in the “town” of Chaffey, Wisconsin.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Overlooking Lake Superior at Shovel Point, Tettegouche State Park, MN<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the top of High Falls in Tettegouche State Park, MN.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Huge snowflakes were falling by the time we reached Two Step Falls in Tettegouche State Park.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The upper falls of Gooseberry Falls at Gooseberry State Park, MN<\/p><\/div>\n

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The middle and lower falls of Gooseberry Falls<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the start of the 9.3 mile hike on Timm’s Hill Trail to the highest point in Wisconsin.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Esker Creek is about halfway along the Timm’s Hill Trail<\/p><\/div>\n

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Touching the marker indicating the highest point in Wisconsin<\/p><\/div>\n

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A view from the top of the tower on Timm’s Hill<\/p><\/div>\n

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Standing at the exact center of the Northwest Hemisphere (45 degrees N, 90 degrees W). Located NW of Wausau, WI.<\/p><\/div>\n

In August, I participated in a conference near Mt. St. Helens in Washington. I spoke two times and took part in three hikes near the volcano and one near the Columbia River gorge. We flew out a couple days early and hiked the Tamanawas Falls Trail at Mt. Hood (OR), and the next day I hiked the Skyline Trail at Mt. Rainier NP (WA).<\/p>\n

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Tamanawas Falls, near Mt. Hood, Oregon. The water drops 110 feet.<\/p><\/div>\n

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At Myrtle Falls near the start of the Skyline Trail on Mt. Rainier.<\/p><\/div>\n

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At the top of the Skyline Trail (1700 ft. higher than our parking spot). The waterfall in the distance on the far left is the Wilson Glacier Falls, and it drops more than 300 feet. This helps to comprehend the size of Mt. Rainier.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The view from Panorama Point near the top of the Skyline Trail. Look closely over my left shoulder and you can see Mt. St. Helens in the distance.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The first of three days hiking around Mt. St. Helens<\/p><\/div>\n

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At Spirit Lake with the volcano in the background. The thousands of floating logs behind me have been on the lake for over 41 years.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Technically, it is a waterfall. This was at a tiny stream flowing into Spirit Lake.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The view from Windy Ridge, NE of the volcano.<\/p><\/div>\n

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On the second day of hikes, we walked through areas where plant and animal life has been recovering since the eruption. This is from the Hummocks Trail on the NW side of the volcano.<\/p><\/div>\n

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On the third day of hiking near the volcano, I went all the way down into the “Little Grand Canyon.” Everything in this picture is younger than me. The canyon was cut in a day through sediment that was laid down during three separate events, beginning with the eruption in 1980.<\/p><\/div>\n

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The fourth day of hikes for the conference began at Latourell Falls in Oregon. The water plunges 224 feet.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Next, we visited a spectacular overlook of the Columbia River Gorge before spending the day driving to several sites with geologic significance throughout the gorge.<\/p><\/div>\n

After the conference, Casey and I spent a week hiking in Oregon and California. In Oregon we hiked at Blue Pool (Willamette NF, OR), Tumalo Falls (OR), and Crater Lake NP (OR). In addition to the extremely beautiful scenery, Blue Pool and Crater Lake offered some unique opportunities. The water temperature at Blue Pool is always about 37 degrees, so I just had to jump in. And the Cleetwood Cove Trail at Crater Lake ends at a spot where you can do a bit of cliff jumping into the lake from about 25 feet up into water that is about 58 degrees. Both of those jumps were amazing.<\/p>\n

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The 2.25 mile hike to Blue Pool provides some outstanding views of the McKenzie River and some large Douglas Fir trees.<\/p><\/div>\n

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Blue Pool is amazing. I want to go back.<\/p><\/div>\n

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It looks quite shallow because the water is so clear, but Blue Pool is more than 30 feet deep.<\/p><\/div>\n