Eaton Canyon

My brother and his family took this hike last weekend and knew we would love it so we planned another day that we could go. Friday was the day. We invited a few extra kiddos along, a friend from church and my niece. That was interesting. I did not realize how used to the outdoors and adventures my ktbunch is until I see other kiddos in action. They were troopers and even though they said the hike was *difficult*, reported they had a great time.

The weather was warm but nice. The trail was very rocky and most of the kids chose to walk it IN the water.  That took longer than staying on the trail but they felt more comfortable and safer being able to walk in the water. I think the creek had more of a steady incline rather than definitive rocky steps upward like the trail.

I was wearing old tennis shoes but didn't want to get them wet if I didn't have to, so the Mr., oldest and I stuck to the trail and crossing the creek on top of dry rocks and stones. There were a few occasional slips but no falls or wet shoes and feet for us. Carrying back packs full of snacks and some towels--there was some sweat but nothing major or too dehydrating.

Finally we made it to our destination.

Not only was the water fall pretty but refreshing.  Stepping in the water felt cool. Standing IN the actual water fall was almost weird. Not exactly like a cold shower, since the water falls at an inconsistent rate. Every single person that went in made a hilarious face from the shock and every female gave out some sort of laughing scream. The pool was shallow, only a few feet deep.

There were waves of day-camp kids. I thought it was neat that they were able to take this great hike and be outdoors but sad that they were with workers paid to be there with them. It felt a little crowded but not too bad.  My brother said it was worse when they went on a Saturday. I bet it was.  We want to go back again and hike to the crest. There are 3 waterfalls in this canyon and the second one, at least, flows into a pool deep enough to jump in to from the falls. That's on our next-hike-to-do-list.

On our way back, we came across a hiker with a head injury. Her and her friend were also on their way down. Her friend was hit with a rock on her back and a few seconds later she was hit in the head. This was not a rock that fell from the top but a rock that was thrown. We had seen and heard the day camp kids throwing rocks and being scolded for it earlier. My brother even had to tell one of the counselors about it. So we suspect and concluded it was one of them that had inadvertently hit her. The rock that hit her head caused a pretty big, bloody gash. When we arrived she had just been hit and was sitting down holding a bloody t-shirt on her head. A few seconds later she was passed out and trembling. We stayed near her to try and assist in anyway we could and reassure her & her friend. It didn't take but a few minutes for her to regain consciousness, her color to come back, eventually the gash to stop bleeding and sit up. She had blood on herself everywhere, even down to her shoes!

Her friend had called 911 and they instructed us not to move her.  The operator mentioned sending a helicopter too. Yikes! The Mr. was ready to carry her out. My sister-in-love and I were ready to use basic skills to close the gash if it had not stopped bleeding. (Which btw, for head wounds, you can tie the hairs on each side of the cut, together to hold it closed.)We waited for the emergency personnel to arrive and left.  On our way we passed 3 more emergency response teams and a news camera guy! The road we parked on was blocked off by numerous emergency vehicles; 3 fire trucks, 2 paramedics, national forest service, an ambulance and a news van! There was also an ambulance and paramedic inside the canyon at the top of the trail. I found a news video (@ the 10 second mark) that showed some footage of her getting suited up in a serious neck brace and being transported out of the canyon on a gurney.

Exciting for sure. It was another great day and I can't wait to go back and see the bigger falls. Birdy spent the rest of the afternoon swimming @ her cousin Alece's house and spent the night while Sammyboy went home w/ my brother to hang out w/ my nephews. The Mr. had a show later that night and my brother and his wife went with us to watch it. We laughed...a lot. What a great night! I was so tired when my head finally hit the pillow.