Day 11.234: Arethusa Falls recap

On our last full day of vacation, we did another short hike - this time to Arethusa Falls. I did a pretty good write-up at the time (follow that link), but I skipped a few details like this view from the trail head:

Our path did not take us up there, but it was one option for making the out-and back into a loop. It looks like it would have been fun, but would probably have strained the definitions of "easy" and "short" we were applying to the day's hiking.

The falls were impressive even  in the dry summer season:

And the alternative route we did take on the way back - a small detour consisting of a very steep descent into the creek valley and then an easy walk alongside past a couple more small waterfalls was nice. I'm glad we didn't attempt the ascent by this route however.

We didn't see many noteworthy animals on our trip - lots of squirrels (red and gray) and chipmunks and quite a few insects - most not very well received, but this was an exception:

Not obviously, it is a red-spotted purple, although this northern variety is also known - more reasonably - as the white admiral. It has two very different forms. The southern one looking very different where it mimics the colouring of a poisonous swallowtail. Even more interestingly, hybridisation between the two varieties occurs where the two territories meet.