Naoto and I decided to take a weekend trip in to Santa Clara County. I had heard about this beautiful waterfalls loop trail in Big Basin Redwoods State Park near Santa Cruz. As waterfall hikes our absolutely our favorite, we couldn't pass this one up.

Early Saturday morning I pulled the futon covers off of Naoto and made him get up. He had to get up early because he was going to make onigiri for our hike. In the last few hikes, all I heard was his complaints about how the sandwhiches I packed just didn't give him enough energy. "Yeah, rice is the best," was the refrain ringing in my ears. So this time I wasn't going to take it anymore. I made Naoto get up and make us two kinds of rice balls: salmon and salted plum. Just in case rice power didn't work as well for me I also packed potato chips, cucumbers and olives. What a strange trail mix!

I drove on the way down to the Park, although Naoto was nervous the whole way. I swear, sometimes I think that boy doesn't believe I took care of myself for 25 years before I met him!

It was cold, misty, and empty at the park entrance. As we laced up our boots and hoisted our packs, I wondered just what it was that made me decide to hike 11 miles that weekend. I thought longingly of our cozy apartment and the foamy taste of a latte.

The first hour and a half of the hike took us through impossibly tall, sweet-smelling redwoods. There is nothing like a big tree to put you in your place. Naoto was a little distracted by some huge, yellow slugs that occassionally popped up, but in general seemed to enjoy the first part of the hike.

Suddenly, the path took us out of the forest and on top of a hill where it looked like a fire had recently cleared away the trees. The most exciting thing, however, was the little California lizards that ran, startled from the path as Naoto tried to catch them by the tail.

On our map it showed three sets of falls. We reached the first one in two and a half hours of gente up and down twisty paths.

The first set of falls: Cascade Falls