Minnehaha Falls

My friend recently got out of the Singaporean army after two years of service (males have to do it for two years if they want to retain citizenship), and it was amazing having him back, because he was absolutely the glue of our group. All of us have been very close since high school, and it was wonderful having the Squad back together once again.

We visited Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis, MN, and the weather was perfect— the day was warm, and the skies were clear, and the pale blue waterfall was utterly breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it. However, it was an absolute bitch to actually get up the waterfall; being there was technically trespassing (I do wish I had photographed the numerous and ominous DO NOT ENTER signs), so there wasn't a clear, delineated, legal path to get up to the falls. 

First, we had to climb over two ropes and jump over a fence. This was a bit embarrassing for me since I was wearing a skirt, but I will flash people any day for the chance to experience a wintry landscape. Then, we had to carefully climb up an icy hill. I mean, the entire side of the hill was ice, deceptively covered in powdery snow. Halfway up the hill was a little rope tied around a precariously fracturing tree branch, and at the very top was a long, thick rope attached to a substantial tree trunk, with knots at every half foot. The thicker rope was being tossed back and forth from the top of the hill to the bottom, and certainly without embracing teamwork, we courageous trespassers would have certainly crushed our facial bones and destroyed our delicate, fleshy bodies. 

I'm still trying to get the hang of focusing properly. There's just so many things you have to be aware of when shooting with a DSLR!

*an outdated reference to a Miley Cyrus lyric about metaphorical climbs*

Waiting for the blue rope.

A hero's journey.

Out of the five of us, I was the very last one to make it up the hill. I wish I got a picture of the haphazardly built obstacle course erected on the icy hill, because I am honestly so impressed with myself that I managed to climb up it while carrying a DSLR and a purse full of brownies. (I wanted a dessert picnic...I love brownies.) Near the top, my stylish friend in the white pants had to literally drag me up the very last few feet of ice, because I was too weak to heave myself over the ledge. I'll blame it on my asthma/eczema.

He loves ice so much.

Once behind the falls, walking was very easy. The ice on the ground was slushy, and there were non-slippery rocks to walk on. Unfortunately, on my way up, the lens of my camera got a bit wet, so there are some confusingly placed blurry dots on a few of my photos. Sry.

The water was crystal clear and tasted like...water.

Intentionally meta.

There was actually a cameraman from a local news station behind the waterfall who was there to ostensibly report a story on the beauty of the Minnehaha Falls! And he interviewed us! And we were so very excited, we texted our parents that we would be on TV at six! And at 5:30, when we were back safe and sound in the suburbs, we tuned in to the local news station and waited for our big debut.

Unfortunately, it never came. As I mentioned above, technically we were "trespassing," which might be considered "illegal" by the "government," and so instead of running a story on how we (a multiracial gang of post-teen suburbanites) were enjoying this beautiful frozen waterfall, they ran a story on how it's extremely dangerous to climb up behind the falls and how it's illegal and we could be fined.

Apparently, the local news is comprised of goddamn nerds.

He was doing a surprisingly fluid interpretive ice cave dance.

I honestly think someone will die climbing up that hill. I nearly did.

"Look up you she will me" yes brilliant

He loves ice.

Look at that ice splash! And the way his limbs are contorting! Oh my god.

To get down from the falls, you had to either take the same rope path (which is what I did, since I'm so sensible) or you could take a ride on the Ice Slide of Death. Which is what the rest of my friends did. And apparently, it hurt. A lot. (Obviously.)

My friend found a dog to play with. It was very adorable, and you definitely should have been there to see it.

My very second semester at this school is starting tomorrow, and I'm sort of procrastinating sleep by uploading these photos. Does anyone else procrastinate sleep? Anyway, I wanted to put this in here because this is an important milestone in my life, but not important enough for a separate text post. 

I'm thinking about doing "favorites" of the month — a way to capture the essence of a month's worth of experience and development, mostly thought Internet links and TV shows. Does that sound interesting? Should I stop procrastinating the boring darkness of sleep so I can properly function tomorrow morning? (Probably.)