In the Summer of 2003 I took my first hike into the mountains, a journey of exploration with members of an Orange County writers workshop that I belonged to at the time.
It was a leisurely, nearly 3 mile round trip, stroll along the trail to HOLY JIM CANYON AND FALLS, in the CLEVELAND NATIONAL FOREST, in the South Orange County community of Trabuco Canyon.
It is said that this hike is the most popular family hike in the OC.
I had a ball, took pictures, and blogged about the experiece.
Well, David Whiting, the wonderful outdoors columnist for the Orange County Register, recently confirmed something that he believed to be only rumor.
As he writes:
I've tromped around O.C.'s back country for years and was skeptical that the photo I was seeing was taken in Orange County. Here, our most famous water fall is Holy Jim – a pretty, but narrow slice of water that spills about 20 feet.
This thing in the photo appeared to plunge at least 80 feet, was a double fall, and cascaded into a crystal pool big enough to swim laps.
Misplaced picture? PhotoShop prank? Or giant, secret waterfall?
In a touch right out of Hollywood, the e-mailer, John Wesley Thomas, wrote that if one wanted to actually see this fall, the viewer would have to follow certain, shall we say, conditions.
The story he has to tell (With map), of reaching this remarkable Waterfall, and the great collection of photos will no doubt inspire others with the time, and skill, to make the same trek.
Reading the extensive comments will reveal that there are others who have long known of this hike, and that there are apparently other falls, not quite as impressive, to be enjoyed in our backyard.
A reader of this story was inspired to look up info on Holy Jim Falls, and encountered my old story and, under the name of "Eric", left the following comment yesterday:
"Please, Please, Please pick up your trash, and anybodies elses trash left behind
THANK YOU"
I sent him a reply:
Yes, SIR!
Thanks for that reminder...now tell us what you thought of the story itself, and what led you to discover my humble little blog. ;-D
This morning I found this response:
I thought the story was pretty good, and the newspaper story with the waterfall on the page is how I found out about your blog.
But we have to remind people to please take their trash, and if they see more on the ground please pick it up, and take it out.
I have been going up in the canyons, and peaks, for over 25 years, and the trash has gotten worse over the last few years .
Please don't mess it up for the rest of the people.
Thank you.
Carl Albright
I plan to do more hiking myself, this year, but tackling trips like this one sound like something beyond me for now. ;-D
You can read about my other, previous, hiking adventures, in my archives called Take A Hike!
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