Sometimes while chasing waterfalls, you don’t find any. In this case we visited the lack of a waterfall on the rocky cliffside of Thatcher park, on what is known as the Indian Ladder trail.
After finishing the lower part of the trail, we advised a family with little ones to stick to the top portion, which goes along the edge, looking out at views across the valley, and ends at the visitors center that has museum exhibits, playground and gift shop (as well as bathrooms and a water bottle filler).
The last time we went, our son really struggled with the stairs and it turned out he was having growing pains in his legs (actual diagnosis). This time he kept up well and enjoyed ducking under rocky ledges and walking along cliffs. “The metal stairs are terrifying, though,” he said. I think it would have been worse if they had kept the original paths up and down the cliffs, tree trunks trimmed for climbing with branches for rungs.
The waterfall, known as the Minelot Falls, was gone, a victim of drought. The stream at the top of the cliff that we usually paddle through as part of our hike was just an empty pile of rocks. We could see a tiny trickle of water below where the falls usually are. (Update: After the recent rainfall, Minelot falls has returned)
