The meteorologist on the local news I often watch in the mornings is a great help in suggesting new ideas for walks and hikes around the area. Some of the ideas are new to me, ones I haven’t known of before seeing his pictures. More than once I have taken out my cell phone and jotted down his recommendations so that I won’t forget to go.

That’s how I heard about Kings Waterfall in Carson City. The trail is in North Carson City, tucked back in an area I didn’t know existed. It’s rural and farm-like, filled with cozy homesteads of warm beauty.

The hike (loop) is only 2 or 3 miles (I had to turn back at one point due to ice and impossibly slippery portions of the trail, so I don’t know the exact distance). The falls are right there at the start of the hike, maybe a quarter mile away from the parking area.

They are pretty and worth seeing. The surrounding views are worth the trek and the drive – even without the falls, I would say.

The only other person I saw the whole time I was there was a young woman and her huge, fluffy, happy dog. This dog was in the process of training and he ran to lovingly greet me against his master’s commands to come. He was adorable!

Our Sydney is 15 years old this winter. She is still healthy and happy, though not young and fit enough to take on all those hikes on which she used to accompany me. I miss her when I’m out and about and I notice more and more that I am in the minority walking without a furry friend to keep me company.

Sydney loves people, loves, loves them. When she could still hear she would squeeze her eyes closed in pleasure and feel your loving words as strokes on her belly. She is compassionate and kind and her thoughts run deep (sometimes you just know, okay?) She has always been afraid of other dogs, even my sister’s tiny little dogs. She runs away from them and will never stand her ground. In her day she would chase coyotes and rabbits and the occasional cat, but dogs terrify her.

We would have gotten a young dog for her in her old age. She could have helped us train and teach the new pup the rules and maybe even rub some of her personality onto the newcomer. We just don’t want her to be afraid in her last years. What if she never got used to a new dog and was always running away for dear life? How sad that would be. If there comes a possibility for a new furry member to join our family, we would need to try the living situation out before we committed to adopting, but it is getting closer and closer to getting a new dog time.

Sydney would have loved this trail! It probably would have been fine for her too as it was low on difficulty.

There are a few signs that indicate deer commonly occupy the area. I tried hard to spy some, and…I did! A bunch of them caught my eye on the way back down the trail.

A lovely little trail that I will visit again.