Day 102: Mae Len Waterfall

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We decided to give our hiking boots one more outing before packing them up and trading them in for flipflops. The venture was Mae Len Waterfall and based on our research could be anywhere from just under a 4 hour hike to a 6 hour hike. We started off strong, parking our bikes at a hostel because no one could tell us if there was somewhere closer to park...there was (add 40 minutes to the hike). The hike itself was the right balance of entertaining, flat and challenging as the trail wove across the river about 20 times out and then 20 times back. No point was the river too deep or fast moving now that it is dry season so it was fun to play don’t fall in the lava as we hopped rocks and sorted out our crossings. The worst part of the way out was at one point I looked and an entire bunch of bushes were moving...on closer inspection they were covered in spiders! Usually I don’t mind the critters, but the sight of thousands of them all in a condense space was enough to make me forge up the river a bit and exit the trail. Just before we got to the falls we came across a group of woman hiking with a dog. I stopped to say hi and greet them and the pup. Turns out the dog had just decided to join up with them and then preceded to follow us back to the falls. The falls were cool because they had three pools of water and you could climb up to each pool. After the dog and we had a nice rest, we headed back. We met a solo hiker and passed the dog onto him as he danced with the dog for a greeting and seemed happy for the company. Well friends...there have been small hints that my endurance has dropped off since the beginning of this jaunt and today was yet another reminder. My falling in the lava went way up on the journey back due to mental and physical fatigue. Nothing says get me back in a gym than repeatedly falling in the water and having my legs ache with tiredness which was the end of the hike. Overall it was a successful 5 hour hike with the reminder that it will be nice to be home and working out again.

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Photos

5 hours round trip to...
Mae Len Waterfall