Pam's Grotto

A little bit of fog still clung to the Ozarks as I drove along the winding mountain roads. I pulled over at an overlook, which provided this view:



I met up again with my good friend Zack Andrews, and we decided to visit one of the prettiest waterfalls in the Ozarks - Pam's Grotto. The falls are reached via a short but steep trail that runs up the side of a hill and then down to the falls. It's been a few years since I've done this hike, and the last time I was here it was a little traumatic. As I was climbing up the steep hill I encountered another hiker. This hiker was standing in the middle of the trail and was, well, pooping. Just right there. And to make things more awkward, he wanted to have a conversation with me while he finished up his business.

Luckily there were no pooping hikers, or actually anyone else out on the trail that day. We made it to the falls, which were running well after all the recent rains. For a sense of scale, see if you can spot Zack in this shot:



The falls here are 37 feet, and they tumble into a small grotto.





We headed back to the cars, but made one last stop to get pictures along the creek. The orange in the background is from beech trees, which hang onto their leaves after the fall. They provide a lot of nice color, even in the dead of winter.