[originally written in a paper journal, subsequently published on my older site. Current (2014) commentary in [italics] ]
I woke up early this morning and saw that it was sunny outside, so I decided to get up and have a better look. As it turned out, the skies were clear and it looked to be an excellent day for hiking. I was thinking that I would go out by Starrigavan, but a dead car battery put an end to that idea. I ended up going up Indian River Trail again. I got out early and it seems like I was the first one out on the trail, though I am somewhat surprised that no one else has been up to the falls by now (I have been up here for a couple of hours now, I think). It is a great day for hiking, sunny and warm, but the woods are comfortably cool. There has been some trail work done since last week when I was up here, though there is still some more to be done.
I heard all sorts of different birds this morning, though I haven’t a clue as to what kind they all are. If I had been ready sooner, I would have been able to get a decent picture of a bird with bright yellow on its head. As it was I think I got a couple of good pictures of two deer which walked out of the woods while I was trying to quietly change lenses for the yellow bird and a hummingbird (both of which flew away too fast, actually, come to think of it, the hummingbird may have come after the deer).
I am still trying to decide whether or not to go a ways up beyond the falls.
I ended up going above the falls, right above the falls even. There is sort of a nice view from there. A number of smaller falls/cascades make their homes a short distances above the main falls.
On the way back, I was looking in a small slow moving stream and noticed a small insect-like creature moving about on the rocks underneath the water. It is round, seems to have six legs and is about 1mm in diameter. It is light around the outside and on a line down the middle of the back. (I later found out that it is a type of water mite.)
[Several pictures from the trip are linked from the entry on my older site]