Eleven club members and one guest gullibly believed trip leader George Mustoe when he promised an easy day hike to an interesting geological site. He failed to mention a stretch of trail that is so steep that it requires a rope for access, or all the various rocks and logs and bushes that make the hike memorable. As a reward for our efforts we got to see 50 million year old tracks of giant ground birds, three-toed horses, tapirs, and some small crocodiles. And there were lots of fossil plants, including spectacular palm fronds.
The leader was mostly interested in eating his expansive lunch, but he now and then interrupted the gluttony to mumble comments a time long past when the region was a subtropical forest that existed long before the uplift of the Casacade Range. As a closing event, three of the hikers had the ambition to follow George on a “short, easy” hike to Racehorse Falls. He failed to mention the need to clamber over logs and rocks, and to ford the creek on stepping stones, but the participants appreciated the mini-adventure that led to a very scenic destination.
George
Photos on the MBC Flickr Page.