On Thurs Jose was so random, he asked if I have plan for Saturday
since I am not going to retreat. I said no. here we go. We are heading to Three Sisters Falls near Julian, CA. The trip was confirmed on Friday night only. Met
at 8am, their house. Yeah.
Paula packed the sandwich when I arrived. Alright we were
set to go. I asked where the GPS is, he pointed to his brain. Ha. Then the next
moment we got onto the wrong road. Haha. Hanging out with them is fun, a bit
carefree and need not worry about the nonsense chat. We reached there around
10am. There were quite a number of cars along the roadside. All seem peaceful,
cannot spot the falls.
Immediately I need to answer the nature call. First time
ever k. so paiseh as I have to do it in front of your friends. Kekek. The trail
gets a little windy and downhill. Yes, we need to hike down to the valley. No kidding.
You can see the slope, one can easily slide down. If you’re not mindful, you
may just fall and bye bye. I almost sprained my ankle soon after we got to
rocky part. Phew. Cold sweat. The legs are so precious. I cannot imagine how do
I thread back if I am injured. Thank God, nothing has happened.
We started to see the need of walking on our butt. Knowing how
dirty the pant can be, we still do that. Aware of the existence of the poison
oak, ah well, can’t care so much. Our goal is to reach the falls that seem so
near, yet it is still a distance away. We joked along the way, trying to watch out
for one another. Most hikers are young peeps, as in our age or younger. Very few
older folks. Actually you need a stronger heart and courage to hike the trail. Both
physical and mental wellness. The sun was not too bad. We scrambled through the
boulders or rock if you want to call it, I actually prefer that to hiking the
sandy slope. Paula said this is indeed a ‘rock climbing’ trip instead of a
hike. Haha.
By noontime we arrived at the middle falls. There were a lot
of people, resting, snacking and sun tanning. Then we saw a group of people and
one of them was on bandage. Apparently there was blood on the floor. Looks like
that person was injured though he did not look painful at all. I figured out
that we shall only leave the place after the helicopter evacuation!! It was a
long wait while we savor our sandwich and ‘hello panda’. Hehe…
The sound of the helicopter propellers were loud. It got
close to the valley and it flew away. We do not get it. Why?! Then it came back
again. The wind was strong. We saw a paramedic coming down. Helicopter then
left us. Paramedic got the casualty securely tighten and did a ‘thumb up’ sign.
And the helicopter came back again! We stood and posed to take pictures of it.
Who knows the wind is way too strong since this time round the helicopter has
to get nearer to ground level to drop the rope. Our stuffs got blown away and
we were so panicky. Haha. That was very hilarious. We could not stand firm as
it is strong enough to blow you off into the water. Haha. It was a sight,
seriously. I have never been so up close to a helicopter evacuation. Never take
safety for granted. Try not to do silly thing. It is not cheap to get an
emergency evacuation, neither do you want that to happen. Worse part is you may
not get mobile service at the rural mountain, therefore it is better to be safe
than sorry.
We soaked our feet into the water. That was…so nice… :) cold
water but very relaxing. Jose tempted us to jump into the water. Well, I did
not bring any clothes to change. How? Anyway, Paula gave me some courage and
both of us decided to jump! That was fun. Haha. In the end three of us got a
taste of the clear cold water fall water. Hehe... I never thought I can be that
‘siao’. It was a wise choice. The sun dried the clothes pretty soon.
Oh, it is about time to leave the falls. Oh man, the uphill
hike can be tiring. I always like to hike up as it tests your endurance and
build up your stamina. Despite the hot weather, about 85F, we still dragged our
feet to hike up. Paula wasn’t feeling too well and probably due to the
dehydration. We stopped quite a few times to rest. I mean we go as a group, it
is perfectly alright to be slow, as long as everyone feel comfortable. Also,
there were only 3 of us, easier to manage. Hence we encouraged one another as
we slowly made our way up. Truly, it was a long way. We thought we were almost
there every time but it was just not there yet.
Most of the time we were breathless yet I enjoyed it. Jose
was stressed as he saw his wife was having a hard time. He was very caring too.
He offered to shoulder all the backpack and made the wife to stop and rest. I
can see that he himself almost wanted to break down. But how to… we just had to
keep moving till we see the trail head. He said he wanted to get to car as soon
as possible for the air conditioning!! The only drink we want was COKE!! We need
sugar, we need cold drink!
Finally It took us another 2 hrs to be back. Thank God for
the protection, we are safe. Although we swear we would not go there again, who
knows. Honestly I find the trail is a bit too dangerous. If you want some thrill,
you can definitely go for it! Maybe do it slightly earlier in the day, cooler.
We had Korean food at zion. Yummy. Ate so much. Happy and satisfied.
Good company for the whole day. We made it home by 7pm. I took a nap while
doing facial mask to nurse my burnt face. The fengs are so ‘kua zhang’. They rested
from 8.30pm to 10am the next day. Of course, our body are aching due to all
those scrambling. Hehe… it was fun though.
We made it. Yeah.!
