Finding My Pot Of Gold At The End Of Rainbow Falls

Hi Everyone.
This is one of my favorite hikes I've ever done, simply as the scenery here is spectacular!
So take a walk with me along a river, to two waterfalls and some magical views.
I found my pot of gold on the Rainbow Falls Trail leading to the Lower Falls in Mammoth Lakes, CA in the shape of this view:

To get to Rainbow Falls at Mammoth Lakes, follow the sign posts for the Devil's Postpile, as the Falls are only a few miles away from here. Find parking where you can at Mammoth Ski Resort and then get a shuttle ticket. The shuttle's run regularly and you can get off or on at any of the stops.
Myself and Hive account@cusbgeochem1 took the shuttle to the stop for Rainbow Falls and then followed the trail to the waterfall.

The views here are out of this world gorgeous! And it's only a few miles down the well trafficked trail to the falls:

Almost there!

Rainbow Falls is a popular tourist attraction and there are two look out sections where you can get a great photograph of the falls:

And its easy to see why it was named rainbow falls, as there is always a rainbow being formed over the water at the bottom of the waterfall.

Time for a little history and backstory:Rainbow Falls is the highest waterfall on the Middle Fork of the San Joaquin River, in the eastern Sierra Nevada mountains of California, in the United States. Plunging 101 feet to the turbulent water below, the falls are named for the rainbows that appear in their mist on sunny summer days.

At the second lookout spot, a little further down the trail, everyone was taking selfies with the waterfall behind them so I joined in....well I didn't want to be rude lol:

What a lot of people don't realize is there is a second waterfall further down the river. The trail leading there also allows you to get a spectacular landscape photograph of the entire Rainbow Falls:

This trail is less used and follows the side of the river down to the lower section. It's only a couple of miles long and has even more breathtaking views. In fact this is one of my favorite photographs I have ever take in my entire life:

Just the whole composition nature created here; the fallen log leading your eye in to the river, that allows your eye to flow to the rocks. Framed by the trees, and with the grey round stone shaped dome out in front as contrast.
I am always stopping along a trail to take pictures of the route we travelled, as sometimes you find the most beauty on your journey, and not at your destination.
We arrived at Lower falls, which I thought was actually nicer than the location that Rainbow falls is in:

You can walk out over the smooth boulders and get right next to the falls:

I honestly feel that this area is absolutely stunning:

We stopped here, next to Lower Falls for lunch and to relax for a while before hiking back up the trail to Rainbow Falls. As now we needed to get on the shuttle and go to check out Devils Postpile.

But theses views will stay with me forever!

Thanks for reading. If you liked this post please remember to upvote it, and follow me so you don't miss out on my future content.

All photographs were taken by Hive account@beckymeep using an LG Android phone.