Above Rainbow Falls

North Carolina Travelog #27
Gorges State Park, NC - Sat, 23 Sep 2023. 12:30pm

Seeing Rainbow Falls and scrambling to the rocks at the bottom (previous blog) was pretty awesome. It would've been an awesome hike just for that, even with having to ascend a few hundred feet on the way out. But the Rainbow Falls Trail isn't over just because we got to Rainbow Falls. There are still two more falls to go, not to mention enjoying Rainbow Falls from the top!



The trail continues up over the granite ledge that Rainbow Falls pours over then sticks close to the stream. It was a short walk off the main trail to climb onto the granite slabs that form the stream bed. In the photo above I'm looking over the falls. For a sense of scale, try making out the person on flat, rocky area at the bottom (left side of the picture). That's where I was when I made photos from the bottom (see previous blog).

BTW, the perch I'm standing on isn't quite as vertiginous as it may look from the photo. One, I'm on solid granite. It's not slippery. Two, I'm an adult with skill at navigating rocks safely. I wouldn't advise letting your little kids play around out here.



While I was peering over the falls and waving to the people far below, Hawk was exploring the granite slickrock further upstream. We both like the exposed rock next to rushing streams like this. It reminds us so much of California and the Sierra Nevada.

Oh, did I mention waving at the people below the falls? Yeah, I couldn't resist doing that.



It's funny that people at the bottom didn't always seem to notice me at first. Of course, that's because they're likely looking down at their footing so they don't stumble, trip, or slip on the uneven rocks. Once they find a steady place to stand they turn and look up, and then they see me waving from the top and wave back. I mean, I'd wave back from the bottom. Then I'd wait for top-me to stop goofing around so I could take a picture of the falls. 😅



After a few minutes of goofing at the top of the falls I saw that Hawk had picked out a sitting spot on the granite near the stream. I sat down next to her, but not before positioning my camera on a granite slab with the timer set. Granite rock, a flowing stream, waterfall nearby.... This is our happy place.

Chaos in Congress

After House Republicans ousted Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House last week Tuesday, Congress has been plunged into chaos. By its own rules the House of Representatives is literally not able to act on anything without a Speaker. (There is an Interim Speaker, but the only one thing that person is allowed to do is preside over the process of electing a speaker.) What does that jeopardize? Well, aside from all the business of the US Congress coming to a standstill a few big-ticket items that could reach crisis stage soon are:

• Funding for the federal government. Two weeks ago the House passed short-term funding measures to keep the government operating for just another 45 days. Those expire in mid November. Congress needs to be working on proper, long term spending agreements now to avoid another crisis and potential government shutdown next month. Ironically, of course, it was specifically because of McCarthy's bipartisan deal to pass those 45-day temporary measures that he was sacked.


• Military aid to Ukraine. This was clipped out of the temporary funding bill to appease right wing hardliners. Without more support we could soon see this democratic country fall to Russian invasion.


• Military aid to Israel. The terrorist group Hamas launched attacks of breathtaking scale on Israel Saturday. Israel has declared war. The US, Israel's biggest supporter in the world, is limited in ability to support its ally without a functioning Congress.

While Congress remains on leave most of this week, and was on leave last week after the surprise ouster, two representatives have announced bids for the speakership. Steve Scalise of Louisiana and Jim Jordan of Ohio have thrown their hats in the ring. And even McCarthy, just today, has proposed that he could be selected speaker again. What an awful choice those three make.

While Kevin McCarthy was bad enough, with his post-facto support for subverting the will of the people on January 6 and his support for evidence-free investigations of President Biden's son, Hunter, and the president himself, the other two are even worse. Scalise is even more of the same, and Jordan is not just a supporter of lies but an active planner of them. Jordan leads the committee that has pursued investigations of the Bidens despite no evidence of wrong-doing. Even when witnesses blow up in his face and say there's no evidence, he's kept going. Former Congresswoman Lynn Cheney has said in speeches that the January 6 committee she sat on found evidence that Jordan was a co-conspirator with former president Trump in the days before January 6 on exactly how to do it. We're clearly headed toward even worse chaos when the people who subverted the Constitution for partisan gain are now positioning to gain control of the Constitution's levers of power.

Turtleback Falls

North Carolina Travelog #28
Gorges State Park, NC - Sat, 23 Sep 2023. 1pm

Rainbow Falls is obviously the main event on the Rainbow Falls trail, but the trail does continue to two other waterfalls that are worthy of the time and effort to visit them. Not too far past Rainbow Falls, and a mostly level walk from the top of the falls, is Turtleback Falls.

Watch on YouTube

Turtleback Falls is not awe-inspiring like Rainbow Falls. It's barely 20 feet tall in total, versus Rainbow's 100+, but it sure looks fun. A gaggle of young men were foot-surfing down the falls. A few of the best slides/jumps are in the video I've put together above.

Remember, this immaculate day started out with clouds and a dire hurricane warning.