Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

Eaton Canyon Falls

A lot happened in 1995.  To name a few:
1. I was going into my final year of junior high school.  The New York Public School system decided to discard the 9th grade from middle school as an option and everyone had to head to high school the following year.
2. The late Selena was murdered by her manager.  It's still bittersweet whenever I hear her on the radio.  I feel the same way about Vanessa Williams when they play her as well.
3. Oklahoma City bombing made me realize that terrorism can happen in America.
4. The New Jersey Devils won their first Stanley Cup...I know, who cares.
5. Microsoft 95 happened.
6. I became a teenager.
7. And the most important...TLC's "Waterfalls" was the bomb song of the year.

This past Thursday, I had the day off of work because it was going to be the beginning of the end of my social life for the next eight days.  Four weeks out of the year, I become a live-in camp counselor for a bunch of medical professionals where I plan their entire lives for them.  I'm essentially a CIA handler, but not as cool.  I decided to go on a solo journey to search for a waterfall.  I heard there were some in LA.  The ironic part is I ended up finding one in the San Gabriel Valley at Eaton Canyon, which is probably one of the more dry and inland areas of LA.  

The thing is that usually when I'm going on these adventures, I take someone with me who would be able to help me navigate my way around nature.  I grew up in NYC, so my idea of nature is pretty much Central Park.  There was this rock that my summer school program would always take us too and I would think it was the coolest thing ever when I climbed to the top.  The rock was pretty much maybe at best 100 foot tall...if even.  I should have known things might not go well when I was met with these signs:

 
It was an 81 degree day when I got to the beginning of the hike.  Now I read that the hike was only about 1.5 miles until we hit the waterfalls.  I just kept walking and then all of a sudden, I was heading uphill for about a mile after the first mile.  I had my "Karen" moment (I know, I go back and forth between being Regina and Karen), and realized "wait, why am I going uphill if I'm looking for a waterfall?"  Needless to say, I made my way back down the hill and realized I was supposed to go under the bridge and follow the stream of water up.  There was a lot of rock skipping.  The sad part was that I heard the water and I still kept going up hill after I passed it.  If anyone ever wanted to kill me, all they would have to do is drop me off in the middle of a hike trail and I'll be done in a days time because I have no sense of navigation or common sense in nature. 

With some help from two girls that I was following (they probably thought I was trying to kill them), I found my way to the waterfall.  I was greeted with this amazing sight:

After sitting around for a bit debating whether or not to jump into the cold water, I headed back to my car.  On my way back, I saw about 50 children that were maybe no more than 8 years old.  I was literally baffled that teachers would think to take a bunch of children hiking.  That must be a terror to have to watch over.  More teenage girls should have seen what I saw, perhaps that may stop teen pregnancy.  After I made it to my car, I headed back towards the freeway and decided to end my trip with this little gem:

The New and Improved Shamrock Shake!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!