I
remember a long ago mountain trip when we hiked up a slope to see a waterfall
deep in the woods. We stood at the base looking up. From somewhere unfathomably
high, an endless cascade of water crashed and roared down the rocky
mountain-face, bubbling and foaming over unseen outcroppings before smashing
into the ground near our feet and rushing off into the forest in a frothy
haste. In spite of the sizzling summer heat, a cool breeze endlessly flowed
from the falls and brushed our bodies with a fine, clear mist. The plant life
around us seemed, somehow, fresher and healthier than anywhere else.
Deep
in the heart of the Venezuelan jungle, stands another waterfall, a hundred
times more magnificent than the one of my childhood memory. It starts atop a
flat-topped mountain, or plateau, and hurls down a rugged cliff face for 3212
feet (979 meters). That’s nearly 20 times taller than the famous Niagara Falls!
On
a hot day, they say, the water begins to evaporate even before its long journey
from the mountain top to the pool far below is finished. Toward the base of the
falls, it condenses into a misty haze and vanishes. During the rainy season,
the falls will split into two smaller falls, taking on yet another majestic
appearance.
These
are Angel Falls, the highest falls known to exist on planet Earth. And, oh!
They must be a sight to see in real life! And to think, they existed virtually
undisturbed in the deep, deep jungle for so many millennia. Can you see them
there, in the peace and quiet?
That
solitude officially ended one November day in 1933. It was on that day that a
bush pilot named Jimmie Angel was soaring over the jungle looking for a river
of gold, when he stumbled across the falls. There have been unsubstantiated
claims that other Europeans, such as Sir Walter Raleigh, actually spotted the
falls first, and the Natives of the area knew about the falls for a long time. But
the first official European discovery has gone down in history as being that
unexpected moment when Jimmie first laid eyes on the waterfall. That, of
course, is why it’s called Angel Falls.
It’s
never quite been the same, since. Today there’s a full-fledged tourist
operation going on there. You can hike to the base and look up, or you can take
a helicopter ride - - and look down!! You can also, if you wish, travel up the
river by motorized canoe and view it from the base as you bob about in the
water. And, naturally, as is the nature of the beast, someone had to try to go
up the hard way, just to show it could be done. It took nine days to ascend, I’ve
read.
Let
us hope, with all that flurry of activity, that everyone is conscious of the
potential effects of human presence, and we leave the falls as pure, beautiful
and magnificent as Jimmie found them.
And
speaking of Jimmie, do you want to know how his story ended? Well, he didn’t
exactly go home to a parade and a medal. In fact he went home to a great big
helping of utter disbelief! No one would believe him that he had seen such a
thing as a waterfall that impossibly huge. So, to prove his point, he took his
wife and some friends out to find it again. He even landed his plane on the top
of the mountain so they could get a better look. Sadly, that mountain top was
not so much rugged and rocky as it was simply mucky, and there the plane
remained, stuck fast, for thirty years.
Meanwhile,
Jimmie and party had no choice but to hike out of there on foot. This was a
twelve day trial for them. But with so many witnesses and his own plane up
there proving, undeniably, that he had found the place, it was impossible not
to believe him now.
Here
are a couple of thoughts about Angel Falls:
·
Under some conditions, you can
feel its spray more than half a mile away!
·
Although “Angel Falls” is a
beautiful name, the natives had an equally poignant one. It was "Kerepakupai Vená", which
means "waterfall of the deepest place".
Sometimes Mother
Nature does her very best work when she’s all alone in the wilderness.
Photo by Poco a poco
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