This past Mother’s Day we just had one daughter here so the two of us went north to Decorah to re-visit Malanaphy Springs. Last year on my birthday my friends and two of our daughters went there for the first time and I wanted to go again. Gene Anne was in to go to because she and her boyfriend, Spencer went about a month ago but it was very wet and they had to go through alot of water to get to the springs.It is about a 1 mile hike in on a dirt path which is usually easy to navigate. Along the way there are wild flowers, beautiful trees, delicate ferns and vegetation. You will also see birds, chipmunks, bees and other critters you typically see in the timber.There are also “obstacles”, tree roots, rocks, fallen trees that one needs to go over, under or on top of for a great photo!We are pretty friendly and trusting folk, of course we say “Hi” to everyone we pass and we are always asking others to take a photo for us! Along the way we passed by a little guy, I suppose he was about 3 or so, I jokingly asked him, “Are you out on your own today?” and after he ran passed me, Gene Anne heard him say he was looking for his Mom. well, we had not passed any “Moms” recently, so Gene Anne went to walk with him and I kept going ahead. Shortly up the trail I came upon a gal with 2 other children and told her we passed a little boy in a blue shirt and if he was with them? She said no, that they were there with alot of kids but they had all of them. Within a few seconds, a another gal came up to her looking for her boy, saying she could not find him and started running back down the trail. I told her that our daughter was with him and about that time, Gene Anne showed up carrying the little guy. His older brother gave her a big hug with his very muddy hands as he was playing in the water. So all is well as I told Gene Anne she “saved” a child today! We had a good laugh about it afterwards, because little kids can be very quick and if they go off exploring, sometimes they cannot find their way back.We also took some funny photos. Here Gene Anne is trying to push the rock over, and below, I am trying to hold the rock up!There are many deer paths along the way that people can easily take to go “off the beaten path” and a make shift rope to use to get get up the rock bluff to the mouth of the spring. I went about 1/2 way up and here is Gene Anne almost to the top. She did safely get up there and back down without injury.We finally get to the end where the spring water flows over a rock bluff and down to the Upper Iowa riverAt this point you cross to the right and scale down the dirt path which I would estimate is 10-12 feet. It works best to go down backwards and use the exposed tree roots to hang on to. So at the bottom, there it is, the beautiful falls. The cold clear water splashing down onto the rocks and into the river. It is a beautiful unique feature here in NE Iowa.We take some time to enjoy it before climbing back up to the top and start our journey back.If you decide to check out this site, be sure to visit the website to get specific directions as there is no “address” at the falls. It is good to get out and into nature as it feeds our mind and soul, it also helps us to reset and reconnect and inspire us. Oh, I have an idea for a Quilt, see how this works! Take sometime today to get out and enjoy nature and have a Great time doing it!