Bonita Falls

Saturday - San Bernadino National Forest, in search of Bonita Canyon Falls.

 First we crossed a stream..

Then we hiked down the wash..

The map we got from the state park office said we would walk down the wash for 1/2 mile then we would find the footpath that would lead us to the waterfall.

We couldn't find the path.  So we just kept walking, which was fun, and interesting, except that these pictures don't depict how freezing cold it was Saturday.  Like, 40s cold.  And we were in shorts and t-shirts, except for the fleece jacket we passed back and forth. 

We found a cave..

Somehow we got to this point which was basically impassible.  We were right along the stream and the wind, which was unbelievably strong, was blowing the water around and spraying us, making us even colder. We were climbing rocks, jumping across the stream, getting caught on pricker bushes, and freezing.  Finally we turned around and found our way back to the wash, this time we were determined not to miss the trail to the waterfall.

Ashley spotted it first, a simple sign that was covered in graffiti.  We started walking toward it, just chatting, and laughing like we always do, excited that we finally found the footpath. Then I heard an awful sound and I turned around to see that Ashley had face planted right on the rock path.  It looked and sounded like it hurt.We were cold and tired, and Ashley had just bashed her face off of  boulders, but we kept going because we thought it would be a shame to come this far and not see the waterfall. 

Then, with great dramatics, we shouted and celebrated because we finally found it. 

It was even colder by the waterfall and there was ice on the rocks.  But we were so excited and in awe.  

After we got our fill we headed home and stopped for soup and sandwiches at Panera Bread.  The rest of the evening we relaxed and finally warmed up. 

photo credit to Ashley, as she took a number of these photos :)