Ney Springs and Faery Falls

I have been very fortunate to be able to travel so much this year. From northern mountains to the southern coast of California, from the mountains and valleys in Alaska to the desert in southern Arizona, I have seen a lot. No matter where I find myself, nature speaks to me, and I always find myself in awe. And, still, there is nothing that touches my soul like the flowing waters and vibrant green landscape that exist here in the valley below Mount Shasta.

With a week of mild, sunny weather, we were headed to walk along the edge of a nearby lake. We headed up the windy road, admiring the trees and moss and first blooms of spring, and soon realized that we had climbed high enough to reach the clouds. We were shocked to see snow on the ground. A lot of snow. Still, we kept going and even passed the sign warning us that the road ahead was closed. We thought surely the trailhead would open, we haven't had any snow in weeks (at home). Well, we were wrong. We arrived at the end of the road to find ourselves surrounded by walls of snow that towered over our heads. Literally walls. It was crazy and shocking for us newbies. So, we headed back down the mountain hoping that the road to another trail was finally passable.

Lucky for us, once again, the third time is the charm. I had tried to get to this trail late last year and earlier this year, but both times the road was too muddy for Sapphire, my trusty Jetta. Today, the road was completely dry and passable, even if we did have to zig and zag around some huge divots. Coming through the final turn, we saw a fork in the road and a hand-written sign pointing toward the falls, so we parked next to the campsites and headed out.

The trail is really an old dirt road, but as you climb the hill, the ground goes from sand to rocks, and the road narrows, and the traces of civilization (including cell service) disappear. I had forgotten how magical it is to be in a place where the only sound you can hear is cascading water, where you can see every shade of green imaginable, where you are surrounded by the calm of a place that has existed for centuries. I had forgotten that feeling of peace that envelops me here, but Mother Nature graciously reminded me today.

If you have been here before, you know that I'm a nature nerd so this place was like heaven to me. There were so many kinds of conifers in this area; massive pine and spruce trees with newer saplings lining the path. There were just as many deciduous trees; some that looked eerie with no leaves and brown moss growing on their trunks, some with multiple trees growing out of the same trunk and covered with yellowish-green moss, and younger trees that were already donning bright green leaves. There was even tall grass growing around some of the streams flowing down the hill from the road, and I think I saw some plants that will have flowers blooming once the weather warms up. Oh, I haven't even mentioned the door to the house at the bottom of a tree, or moss-covered rocks and boulders, or the trees with open space beneath them as their roots jut into the hill at a ninety-degree angle from the trunk. But I'll spare you that monologue. (this time)

This hike has two names because there are two really awesome things to see (in addition to the trees); the ruins of Ney Springs resort built in the late 1800s, and a little farther up the road, Faery Falls. Ok friends we got to see tons of different types of trees, old ruins, and a river with a waterfall...now you understand why I tried to get here so many times, right? This place has everything (oh, except a bathroom).

According to my research, Ney Springs Resort was built in 1887 and had a hotel that could accommodate 50 people, as well as a carriage house, barn, and bathhouse. They even piped water into the buildings. It always amazes me that people were able to build such amazing destinations in the middle of nowhere, I just can't fathom how they got all of the things they needed way out there on the side of this hill. What's fascinating today is how much of the resort has been reclaimed by the forest. The only remnants are a few moss-covered retaining walls, one with a fountain boasting the name of the resort, and a couple of cisterns by the river. How amazing it would have been to stay at the resort and exist in this place for days at a time.

Passing the ruins, the trail continues up-hill and offers another fork in the road. We all know that I chose the one that had a steeper incline and took me away from the falls. Don't ask me why I consistently do this, I truly don't know. What I do know is that I followed that path long enough to see the top of the falls through the trees on my left as the road veered away from them on my right. I did think for a split second that the road might curve around and take me back to the water, and then I came to my senses, turned around, went back the way I came, and took the fork that led downhill and right to the water.

The falls were amazing. The river rushes down between two giant boulders. A large rock at the top of the falls splits the river in two only for the water to fan out and merge again as it falls into the pool below and continues cascading down the many obstacles in its path. I've said it before; water is such an awe inspiring force. Wherever it wants to go, whether over, around, or through, as solid or liquid or gas, it will get there. And to think, this force gives us life. We are made of it. It is a part of us. Over half of you is an awe inspiring force. Hmmm...that's something to think about.