The lower falls here are same ones that were in the previous picture, the upper falls you can see above are greatly affected by the wind.
We hiked to the top of this mountain on Saturday. It’s more than 2000 vertical feet acheived over 3.6 miles. You can do the math if you want; what it works out to is pretty steep and very consistent, it’s like you’re walking up a staircase the entire time – a staircase made of sand, gravel and large granite stones. By about the 1 mile mark I was ready to throw in the towel and head back to the lodge – i think i was out of water at that point too. But we kept going, fueled by pistasio nuts. 270 minutes of straight climbing, with several 3 – 5 minute bouts of cursing and catching our breaths. The last mile or so is the worst (er, most physically demanding) part of the climb. You’re wet from the mist of the upper waterfall, and the trail keeps getting steeper and steeper. The terrain underfoot is lined with large stones, some covered with a fine sand that will easily cause you to slide. And then you hit the snow. The uppermost portion of the trail is covered in a few feet of mountain-top snow. Most of the peaks around there are still covered as late as early May. I guess at 6700 feet it doesn’t melt so quickly. When your legs hardly work anymore and you have to walk uphill in icy snow you’re seriously considering dropping the $5k on a helicopter ride out of there (well maybe not, but the option’s there). And once there? Well – it’s going to be dark in a few hours so you’d better hit the trail.