Feather Falls

We have been hearing about the famous Feather Falls for quite some time, since we have been in Chico, so we took advantage of a cool, late spring day and tackled the 9-mile hike to see it. What a lovely hike! A wide, mostly level trail meandered through pines, Douglas Fir, and the occasional redwood tree. A creek kept things even cooler and provided a nice background noise. Even though the hike was pretty long, we didn't feel exhausted, which made it very pleasant.

Feather Falls is the 4th tallest waterfall in California, so it was quite impressive. Enjoy the pictures, and if you're ever in Chico to visit us, we'll have to make time for this great hike!

For much of our hike, we got a view of this beautiful creek.

And here are the falls! I think they're about 400 feet high!

Luckily, a nice observation deck had been built, since there were lots of signs warning hikers of the danger of death, should they do something stupid. We were able to get a great view and stay quite alive. :-)

A Visual Tour

Since living in Chico, we've taken lots of opportunities to go hiking and explore the natural areas around where we live.  One of my favorite places is out east of town (10 minutes from our house) called Bidwell Park.  There's lots of trails, swimming holes, a creek, and these interesting, narrow canyons called slot canyons.  I hope you enjoy the scenery!

My apologies on the sideways photo...  In this picture is Big Chico Creek.

Big Chico Creek from the bottom of the canyon.

Upper Bidwell Park

One Sunday afternoon, we took a drive into the Sierra Nevada foothills and discovered Paradise Lake.  We were able to walk around one side of it.  We enjoyed the piney woods and even saw a grouse!

In other news, Michael and I are both employed full time now!  We were not expecting to have jobs so soon into our transition here, and we are very pleased and grateful to have regular income in a town that has a 12% unemployment rate.  This is yet another reminder of how fully we can trust God to look after us.  So, we are settling into life here and enjoying it.

We've had and will have a few out of town guests, which have been bright spots in our lives.  We got to lend a night's sleep to one of our good friends we met in Korea, and next month, we'll have a few more visitors pass through.  I'm just glad that our friends don't forget us, even though we moved away from them.  We always miss them and are happy when they can come visit.  It's extra special because it's so far.

So, that's it for now!  The pictures and stories aren't so exotic anymore, but I've had a few requests to keep this blog up, so I will, just not so frequently. :-)