I did end up chopping a day off of the beginning of this trip in an effort to better recover from being beat up by the one of the prior week . As a result I would not get to see Mystic Falls but from what I could gather it wasn't flowing anyway so that was no big deal. Cutting back on the number of miles traveled in any given day seems to be the key to a successful trip, at least for me. Having this happen on the first day of a trip is not a good thing and sets a very bad mood for the rest of the trip.
Day hiking with feet that hurt is no fun.
This time I took two days going down and back up the trail which makes for a much more pleasant trip. It also gives more time for just sitting around and relaxing at the end of the day. The fabulous sunrise from Tilted Mesa , on the way in, as well as the sunset from Marion Point, on the way out, were added benefits. This publication and its text and photos may not be copied for commercial use without the express written permission of Bob Ribokas .